ARINGAY, La Union – At least 5,000 households in the southern part of this town who were longing for a very long time for safe potable water supply will now have it through the installation of around P40 million worth of modern water system which will be installed by the Metro Agoo Waterworks Inc. (MAWI).
“At last, we now have safe drinking water which we are longing for a very long time. This will help us a lot and will spur economic activities in our town,” said Mayor Eric Sibuma.
Sibuma and MAWI President Roderick Ongcarranceja signed on Friday a ‘memorandum of agreement’ (MOA) for the construction of the water distribution facility.
The MOA signing was witnessed by Gov. Francisco Emmanuel Ortega III, 2nd District Rep. Sandra Eriguel and husband former Congressman Franny Eriguel, MAWI Chairman Jolly Ting, and Atty. Rolando Rivera, the legal consultant.
“We hope to finish the construction within three months. We will use purely new pipelines. This is entirely a new system. The water supply is very abundant and more than enough even during summer,” Ting said.
Ting said that Aringay is one of the waterless towns in the second district of La Union adjacent to Agoo.
He said MAWI will provide vast water to the residents and businesses of Aringay by connecting the new pipeline to the existing water lines from Agoo which has abundant water supply.
“Water is one of the basic elements to spur economic growth and attract the inflow of investments. With this development, it is expected to boosts the development of Aringay,” he said.
MAWI, a subsidiary of the Calapan Waterworks Corp., launched its operation around five years ago by delivering to Agoo vast supply of clean and potable water coming from its infiltration well installed along the riverbanks in Barangay Garcia Tubao, La Union.
After 25 years since the devastation of the 1990 killer quake that destroyed the water supply in Agoo, potable drinking water started flowing in the town on December 2015 after MAWI has completed the construction of P400 million worth of water facility.
The July 1990 killer quake has destroyed the water table or aquifer of Agoo and Aringay and that the underground supply becomes salty because these towns are covered by the Lingayen Gulf.
By Dexter A. See