800 households to benefit from DAR water project in Carmen, North Cotabato

KIDAPAWAN CITY - More than 800 households under the Carmen Convergence agrarian reform community will now have better access to potable water supply after the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) turned-over a Community-managed Potable Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (CPWASH) Project in Barangay Macabenban, Carmen, North Cotabato on June 30.

Engr. Reynaldo Anfone, provincial agrarian reform program officer (PARPO-II), said the CPWASH project amounting to Php160,000 was turned-over to Macabenban Farmers Association, a DAR-assisted organization, to look after the maintenance and sustainability of the project.

“With the water and sanitation facility in place, we are hoping that ARB households and the school children will have better access to water and sanitation services through this low-cost, culturally acceptable and appropriate technologies that can be managed and sustained by the community,” Anfone said.

Engr. Mustapha Bituanan, Regional Project pointperson, said the project’s main goal is to provide access to safe drinking water and sanitation through the low-cost water and sanitation facility in rural areas.

Bituanan elaborated that the water and sanitation facility which was constructed inside the Victor S. Manlinok High School includes 1-unit rainwater collector, 1-unit biosand filter, and 1-unit iron removal filter.

Bituanan further said that “the iron removal filters and bio-sand filters facilitate the removal of limestone sediments and turn collected rain water and water from artesian well into safe drinking water for the populace.”

He added that the project also includes a package of swine production and 1-unit biogas digester that will serve as waste collection basin from the piggery to produce methane gas which could produce fire for cooking.

Jaymar Siton, school principal, expressed his gratitude to DAR and shared that the project will free them from waking up as early as 2 o’clock in the morning to race in fetching water from a well.

“It is a big sacrifice for the community for not having enough potable water supplies for household and school activities. With the facility within our reach, we can already do a lot of things to improve our school and the community such as beautification and gardening,” Siton said.

During the turn-over ceremony, seven para-engineers were given certificate of completion after a 10-day hands-on construction training of the CPWASH facilities. The para-engineers were trained for project replication in the future.

The project was implemented through a tripartite partnership with LGU Carmen, Macabenban Farmers Association, and DAR.