ITOGON, Benguet – The municipal government will work out the put up of the town’s own water district to optimize the use of available sources of potable water for the residents, especially in the populated barangays, in the future.
Mayor Bernard S. Waclin said that the put up of the water district has been a long standing plan of the local government which must already be realized in the next several years to ensure stable supply of potable water and optimize the potentials of existing sources for the benefit of the people of the municipality as they should be the first ones to benefit from the development and utilization of the town’s current resources.
“We will collaborate with concerned government agencies for the realization of the aspiration of the people and officialdom of Itogon to have their own water district that will regulate the development, utilization and distribution of the abundant supply of water from our existing sources. We will do it in a manner by which we will be able to realize the said plan to putu up our own water district in the next several years considering the tedious process involved,” Mayor Waclin.
Earlier, the local chief executive embarked on the Itogon first policy where the municipality should be the one that will first benefit from the proper development, utilization and distribution of the available resources such as water and minerals among others before the same will be shared to other localities.
He claimed that the proposed water district will service the water requirements of barangays Tuding, Ucab, Virac and Gumatdang in the initial phase while the water needs of other barangays will also be considered and prioritized in the future once the water district will be put in place.
Aside from collaborating with concerned government agencies, the mayor said that the local government will also tap the expertise of some water companies operating outside the municipality to help in the establishment of the desired water district for the benefit of the increasing number of populace coupled with the increase in demand for potable water supply using the available sources located right in the locality.
Waclin pointed out the need for an operational water district to cater to the water requirements of the people so that it will not be too late in the day to put up such utility company when the problem of water supply will be already beyond the control of the local government, thus, concerned government agencies must be proactive about the situation in the municipality where there is already an increasing population and demand for potable water supply.
He said that a number of private water companies wanting to partner with the concerned government agencies and the local government for the put up of the proposed water district had already got in touch with the municipality but efforts are now being done to study the matter upon their assumption into office for another three-year term to consider the proposal tht is most advantageous to the residents of the affected barangays and the guarantee of steady supply of potable water for the communities that will be part of the initial phase of the project.
Itogon is one of the five first class municipalities in the province and one of the three first class towns that heavily rely on mining as its source of income. By Dexter A. See
