BONTOC, Mountain Province – The municipal government needs enormous funds to tap a potential water source in barangay Talubin to bring water to the central barangays to address the inadequate supply of water for the increasing population.
Mayor Jerome Chagsen Tudlong, Jr. pointed out that the municipal government lacks the required funds to complete the water distribution system from sitio Mangid to the town center which can address the problem of inadequate water supply especially during the dry season and to do this, the support of the national government is needed.
The residents of Talubin will allow the tapping of the existing water source and for the distribution system to pass through their place on the condition that a separate source of water be tapped for their barangay.
The mayor explained that the additional funds are needed to complete the water distribution system from the source to the central barangays and the set-up of a separate system for Talubin.
The local chief executive added that the local government identified a water source in another sitio which could be tapped as the source of water for the residents of Talubin but enormous funds are needed to implement and complete both projects.
At present, the central barangays of Bontoc source their water supply from sitio Balabag, barangay Talubin but the supply is not enough to meet the demand for water of the increasing population considering the influx of people to the town being the center of trade and commerce of the province.
Mayor Tudlong disclosed that more than two decades ago, there was a project of the late Rep. Roy Pilando to tap the Mangid water source to ensure the adequate water supply for the central barangays which amounted to more or less PhP 90 million but this was not realized for various reasons when there was a change in the province’s representative to the House.
According to him, the PhP 90 million estimated cost of the project more than 2 decades ago did not include the put up of the separate water distribution system for the residents of Talubin by tapping a separate source for the barangay.
Tudlong asserted that with the existing water source in Balabag complimented by the water source in Mangid, there will be steady supply of water for the residents of the central barangays that is why the municipal government is trying its best to link with concerned government agencies to for the needed funds for the realization of the project because the municipal government cannot solely afford the fund requirements for both systems.
The mayor said that the residents of Talubin requested the municipal government to ensure they will have a separate source of water before they will allow the use of the Mangid water source that is why local officials want both projects to simultaneously commence once funds will be available to ensure there will be no unnecessary disruption in the implementation of the projects.
Earlier, technical personnel recommended that the water distribution from sitio Mangid should not have gaps within the stretch to guarantee the stable pressure to bring water to the town’s central barangays.
