BACOLOD CITY — A total of 8,204 people in remote Barangay Santol in Binalbagan, Negros Occidental will benefit from the government’s Community-Managed Potable Water Supply and Hygiene (CPWASH) project.
Of the total beneficiaries, 6,704 are residents while, 1,500 are students and teachers of the Santol Elementary School, Binalbagan National High School-Santol Extension, and Porferio S. Porillo Sr. Elementary School.
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) – Negros Occidental II and Binalbagan town entered into a memorandum of agreement on Tuesday for the joint implementation of the project with the Santol Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association (SARBA) as recipient-agrarian reform beneficiary organization.
Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II Lucrecia Taberna said the project aims to enhance households’ access to water and sanitation services, as well as improve the water supply and sanitation situation among agrarian reform communities through low-cost, culturally acceptable, and appropriate technologies.
Community members can manage and sustain the project by themselves, she added.
DAR-Negros Occidental II will provide PHP80,000 for the construction of the water and sanitation facilities, including biosand filter, iron removal filter, biogas digester, and rain water collector.
Of the amount, PHP50,000 will be for the purchase of construction materials while the remaining PHP30,000 will be used for the project-related technology trainings.
The DAR will identify para-engineers from the recipient-community to undergo training on the construction of the facilities, to be conducted by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
The municipal government will allocate PHP50,000 for the labor requirement and livelihood project components.
Mayor Emmanuel Aranda lauded the initiative of the DAR in partnering with the municipal government.
The potable water supply will be provided to the residents possibly by next month, he added. (Erwin Nicavera/PNA)
