THE Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Negros Occidental–South has partnered with the Municipal Government of Binalbagan to provide a potable water source to residents of the said locality.
The potable water system is seen to benefit 6,704 residents of Barangay Santol.
They are on top of 1,500 students and teachers of three schools namely Santol Elementary School, Binalbagan National High School-Santol Extension and Porferio S. Porillo Sr. Elementary School, also in the said barangay.
Though, some of these students are also from other nearby barangays.
DAR-Negros Occidental II, through its Community Managed Potable Water Supply and Hygiene (CPWASH) project, will take charge of the construction of the water and sanitation facilities including biosand filter, iron removal filter, biogas digester, and rainwater collector.
The provision of these facilities is under a counterpart scheme with the local government and Santol Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association (Sarba) as recipient-agrarian reform beneficiary organization (Arbo).
Under the agreement, the agency will provide P80,000.
Of the amount, P50,000 will be allocated for the purchase of construction materials. The remaining P30,000 is for the project-related technology trainings.
The DAR is set to identify para-engineers from the recipient-community to undergo trainings on the construction of the facilities to be conducted by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda), which will eventually provide the accreditation.
The municipal government, meanwhile, will allocate P50,000 for the labor requirement and livelihood project components.
Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II Lucrecia Taberna, who spoke at the MOA signing with the municipal government and recipient-Arbo held at the barangay gymnasium yesterday, said the project aims to enhance households’ access to water and sanitation services.
Taberna said this will also improve the water supply and sanitation situation among agrarian reform communities (ARCs) through low-cost, culturally acceptable, and appropriate technologies that can be managed and sustained by community members.
“The facilities are not only beneficial to public health, but the expertise gained by community members is also an important skill for future income generating activities,” she added.
For his part, Mayor Emmanuel Aranda lauded the efforts of the agrarian reform department for partnering with them for the project, which can start providing potable water to residents most probably starting next month.
Aranda said the health and well-being of the whole community are among the municipal government’s top priorities.