LGUs to help in Basilan water system construction

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Two local government units in Basilan assured to help secure the construction of multi-million spring facilities designed to provide peasant enclaves adequate supply of safe water.

Engineers and senior staffers of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) have started initiating coordination with local officials in the adjoining Lamitan City and Tuburan town, where the public works department of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will harness sources of water to be diverted downstream to villages via gravity.

Lamitan City is the new provincial capital of Basilan, a component province of the autonomous region.

“Our efforts are in support of the initiative of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman to have these projects implemented without hitches, done according to specifications,” said Pablah Alih, a senior staff of the DILG in Basilan.

Alih on Thursday said the water development projects of the region’s public works department are to be assisted by the Local Water Utilities Administration.

Alih, representatives from the Tuburan and Lamitan City local government units and government engineers inspected the projects sites last Tuesday.

Lamitan City Vice Mayor Roderick Furigay said Thursday the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in the autonomous region will upgrade an existing makeshift water reservoir in Barangay Arco, a forested hinterland southwest of the city.

Alih said the DPWH-ARMM has separately earmarked P50 million and P40 million for the proposed water systems in Lamitan City and in Tuburan, respectively.

“These are very good projects. People who stand to benefit from these projects are so grateful to the ARMM administration and to the DPWH-ARMM for embarking on these projects,” Alih said.

Alih said the LGU of Lamitan City assured to help ensure the safety of people tasked to construct the water facility in Barangay Arco.

Tuburan’s municipal chief executive, Mayor Durie Kalahal, also promised to help oversee the water system project intended for his constituents.

Alih said engineers will also tap water from the Barangay Arco impoundment facility for peasant enclaves in Tuburan.

Furigay said thousands of his constituents in Barangay Arco and in peasant enclaves in nearby barangays stand to benefit from the project.

“Thanks to Gov. Hataman, to Malacañang and to DPWH-ARMM Regional Secretary Don Loong,” Furigay said.