ILOILO CITY — The Department of Health (DOH) is constructing sanitary toilets and septic tanks for 192 households in three villages on Boracay Island in Malay, Aklan.
Assistant Regional Director Ma. Julia Z. Villanueva of DOH-6, in an interview Monday, said their central office already gave them the PHP5-million budget for the project.
She added that they are just waiting for the approved resolution from the municipal board of Malay town, authorizing Mayor Ciceron Cawaling to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the department for the transfer of the fund.
“The local government unit will be the one to undertake the project once we already transferred the fund to them,” she said,
“We hope to realize the project before the end of the year because the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) is strict in terms of the utilization of the budget,” she added.
Villanueva said the 192 households found to have no sanitary toilets were presented during the 2nd DOH-6 coordination meeting for Boracay Rehabilitation Plan last May.
Out of the 6,792 households on the island, 6,600, or 97 percent, already have sanitary toilets, she said.
“We are prioritizing these 192 households so that all households on the island will have sanitary toilets,” she said.
With the 100 percent coverage of households with sanitary toilets, Boracay may already be declared ‘Zero Open Defecation’.
DOH has been campaigning for zero open defecation program in communities and encouraging public the value of having their own toilet facilities to achieve universal health care. (Cindy Ferrer/PNA)
