Water project inaugurated in Nueva Vizcaya village

SOLANO, Nueva Vizcaya — Residents of a small village here can now look forward to a continuous supply of clean and safe water with the completion of a water system project.

The new water system in Barangay Bangaan here, which was funded by the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, was formally inaugurated last week.

Elder Salvador Lagumbay, project coordinator of the church’s Latter-Day Saints Charities (LDC), said the project is one of the first two water projects here funded by the organization. The other project was also inaugurated last week in Barangay Besong, Kayapa town.

The LDC, he said, spent around P1.1 million for the Bangaan water project, almost the same amount spent for the Besong water project. The recipient communities and concerned local government units provided the labor and some equipment as their counterpart contribution to the project.

Some 1,700 Bangaan households, whose livelihood depend mostly on farming, and an elementary school are the direct beneficiaries of the project, Lagumbay said.

Councilor Regie Valdez, who heads the municipal council’s health committee, said that prior to the construction of the water system, the residents of the small village had to walk a long way to fetch drinking water.

With the project, Valdez hopes that there would be improvements in health and sanitation in the barangay. Water-borne illnesses, she said, would be lessened, if not totally eradicated.

Gov. Luisa Lloren-Cuaresma, Solano Mayor Santiago Dickson and town councilors Dominador Tamani and Aurea Calica as well as missionaries and workers of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints graced the inauguration of the water system.

Aside from water projects, the Latter-Day Saints Charities is also providing assistance for the rehabilitation of community school buildings, livelihood opportunities and medical assistance, especially for needy or low-income families.