THE Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Negros Occidental I turned over potable water and financing projects to Mirasol Development Corporation Agrarian Reform Cooperative (MDCARC) at Hacienda Lourdes, Barangay Andres Bonifacio in Sagay City.
The DAR Negros Occidental I, headed by Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II Teresita Mabunay, said the projects include Water and Sanitation Facilities under Community-Managed Potable Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (CPWASH) and Micro-Finance Savings Operation (MSO).
Mabunay said the projects will benefit the cooperative’s 69 members as well as the neighboring farming households.
Provincial Agrarian Reform program officer II Teresita Mabunay said that aside from land distribution, the DAR’s mandate also covers provision of support services for farmers’ productivity.
She said there is a need for readily available potable water in the area, and the cooperative will manage and maintain the facility through trained para-engineers.
The CPWASH project is one of the support-services of the DAR providing the community with low-cost water facility in order to have access to clean and potable water.
“The CPWASH project is also seen to be a potential income-generating enterprise in the near future as para-engineers replicate the technology in various households at the barangay and possibly, later, in other parts of the city,” Mabunay added.
The MSO project aims to help farmers in making their own micro-financing system to eventually prevent them from depending on lending institutions with usurious interest rates.
The City Government of Sagay will provide a counterpart fund of P50,000, which will be released soon.
DAR Region 6 Assistant Regional Director Antonio Del Socorro, who was also present at the activity, underscored the importance of potable water to the health of the community.
“Being healthy leads to productivity. The DAR is here to provide support, it is now for the cooperative to sustain and continue aiming for their progress,” Del Socorro added.
Organized in 2012, the MDCARC received their certificates of land ownership award in 2014. (EPN)