TUBA, Benguet – Mayor Ignacio Rivera is pushing for the establishment of a water cooperative among residents in Poblacion to maximize the use of existing water resources in the area for their benefit.
The local chief executive said a water cooperative in the town will definitely result in the proper management and utilization of existing water resources because local residents be responsible for improving the water system and they will surely reap the fruits of having a sustainable water supply in their community.
“We already talked with the members of the irrigators association and the projected domestic users about the proposal to establish a water cooperative and we are elated to learn that people are supportive of the plan and we will move on from what we have started,” Rivera stressed.
He said the municipal government interposed objection to the application of a private company for water rights over the identified water source of the water cooperative because the local government has better plans for the said source wherein the water cooperative will manage the water from the source for the benefit of the residents living within the prescribed service area.
According to him, some 8,000 households within the projected service area of the water cooperative are expected to benefit from the operationalization of the cooperative to provide them a sustainable supply of water year round.
Mayor Rivera underscored water is one of the basic needs of people that is why the local government has to involve the local residents in the management and utilization of the water to give them a sense of responsibility in caring, preserving and protecting the water source to guarantee their water needs.
He added the water cooperative will tap the needed assistance from relevant government agencies in putting up the water distribution system once the cooperative is established to protect the water source will be protected from the use of private companies coming from outside the town.
Rivera explained it is high time that the people of Tuba benefit from the existing water sources in the various communities, thus, the best option is for the creation of the water cooperative that will manage, administer and operationalize the water distribution system for the fast-growing population in the town proper.
He claimed it will now be up to the members of the irrigators association and the prospective domestic users with the support of the local officials to strategize the put up of the water cooperative which will, in turn, work out the distribution system for the members living in the town proper and other neighboring areas to be serviced by the system.
Rivera added the model of the water cooperative in Poblacion will surely be replicated in other barangays with potential stable water sources to make sure that the people of Tuba will be benefit from their own water resources.
By HENT