BANI, Pangasinan ,Philippines – This town in western Pangasinan is the first municipality in the country that has completed its water resistivity survey conducted by the National Irrigation Administration in all its barangays.
Mayor Marcelo Navarro Jr. told local newsmen during the Pangasinan Press Club’s Media in Action forum this week that his town will also receive a P10-million grant from the National Anti-Poverty Commission for the provision of potable water in its barangays.
Navarro said the water resistivity project enabled them to know the sources of water, their volume and depth, and how to tap and make these available to the public.
With the P10-million funding, the municipal government would be able to bring potable water to the communities.
The project is expected to start early next year, Navarro said.
While the fund is not enough to provide the needs of about 50,000 residents in about 10,000 households, Navarro said they have tapped international donors like Japan and the Netherlands for a solar-powered hydro project to generate potable water.
Though Bani is a seaside town, Navarro lamented that it is considered among waterless communities nationwide for having no potable water. Residents get their water from deep wells and springs, which local officials also want to develop.
Despite the water problem, Navarro is thankful that his town has not experienced any outbreak of water-borne diseases.