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Thursday, May 2, 2013

PH’s 455 waterless towns will all have water supply by 2016, says DILG

By Franklin P. Gumapon
PAGADIAN CITY – The country’s 455 waterless municipalities will have their own water supply system by 2016, according to Ms. Fe Crisilla Banluta, Program Manager, Water Supply Sanitation Unit (WSSU) of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Speaking in a forum held here Tuesday on human rights-based local water and sanitation governance, Ms. Banluta said potable water systems were already given to 36 of the 455 waterless towns in the country under the Sagana and Ligtas na Tubig sa Lahat (SaLinTubig) [Sufficient and Safe Water for All] project.

These 36 towns belong to the pilot regions comprising regions 2, 5,9,10 and 13.

The SaLinTubig project gets funding support from the Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund (MDGF) 1919 whose goal is to help the poor families and their waterless communities in the country gain and sustain access to clean and safe water.

In implementing the program, the DILG partners with the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), National Water Resources Board (NWRB) and the local government units (LGUs) including the local communities and local water service providers.

In Zamboanga Peninsula, the municipalities with ongoing SaLinTubig-funded projects are Tungawan, Alicia, Ipil and Payao of Zamboanga Sibugay, Midsalip, Lapuyan and Tigbao of Zamboanga del Sur and Katipunan, Kalawit and Sindangan of Zamboanga del Norte.

The forum also tackled the five Cs plaguing poor communities, namely: corruption, climate change, culture, conflict and weak communities.

Ms. Banluta also reported that 122,000 households from depressed town in 12 provinces have now access to safe water.

To ensure sustainability of SaLinTubig projects, citizens’ monitors would be organized in the communities to serve as integrity watch, enlisting support from people’s organizations, religious leaders and other stakeholders.

Attending the forum were representatives from the municipalities of Katipunan and Kalawit of Zamboanga del Norte, Tungawan, Alicia, Ipili and Payao of Zamboanga Sibugay, Midsalip, Lapuyan and Tigbao of Zamboanga del Sur, DILG-IX personnel headed by Regional Director Paisal Abutazil and local media practitioners.

The fund for MDGF 1919 was established in 2006 by the Spanish government. (PIA9)