A remote community in Albay will soon have its own reliable source of potable water, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said.
A community-managed potable water supply, sanitation, and hygiene project (CPWASH) will be installed in Barangay Naga in the municipality of Tiwi, Albay for the benefit of farmer-families there.
According to Engineer Renato Bequillo, DAR provincial agrarian reform program officer, the CPWASH project primarily addresses the agrarian reform beneficiaries' (ARBs) need for safe and clean drinking water.
"We are pushing this project, particularly in remote areas like here in Tiwi, where people lack access to potable drinking water," Bequillo said.
The construction of the project is expected to begin this June, the engineer said.
A memorandum of agreement (MOA) was signed on June 6 to implement the project, which costs P110,000. Bequillo led the signing of the MOA with Tiwi Mayor Jaime C. Villanueva, Albay Chief for Support Services Herbert Tengco, and Tiwi Food Processors’ Association Inc. (TFPASI) Chairman Fidela Seth Conde.
Under the agreement, DAR will provide a complete package of water sanitation (WATSAN) facilities, which consist of an iron removal filter and rainwater collector.
“DAR will provide the WATSAN technology and finance the technical and logistical requirements for project implementation, while the local government will fund the construction materials and labor requirements, as their project counterparts," Bequillo said.
For his part, Villanueva said that the construction of the water and sanitation facility was not only necessary but also very timely as well.