SABLAN, Benguet — About 75 farmer-members of the DAMS Irrigators and Farmers Association in this town now have a new irrigation system for operation and maintenance after the National Irrigation Administration-CAR turned over to them the completed Pongew Creek Alog Sablan Small Irrigation Project (SIP) in Brgy. Kamog on December 4, 2020.
Completed in May 2020, facilities of the irrigation project turned over comprise of 7 reservoir tanks, 5.14-kilometer pipelines, one set pump with pumphouse and other accessories with a total civil work cost of more than 2.7 million pesos funded under the Small Irrigation Project.
“The project is a big help to us farmers in our gardens,” said Oliver Pa-ay, president of the DAMS Irrigators’ Association. He added that he hoped there will be additional project to cover the other areas which were not reached by the irrigation system.
The irrigation project has a service area of 15 hectares, usually cultivated for cutflowers, and other high value crops.
Sablan Mayor Manuel Munar urged the members for the maintenance of the water source to sustain irrigation water and the proper management of the irrigation system to avoid conflicts in the future.
Meanwhile, Engr. Benito Espique, Jr., Regional Manager, hoped that the members strengthen their association and prove that they can be good stewards of the irrigation system as they have big roles in the operation and maintenance of projects especially that theirs is a pump system. He added that the NIA office is always open for requests of projects subject to validation.
Also in attendance during the blessing and turnover of the Pongew Creek Alog Sablan SIP are Vice Mayor Arthur Baldo, Councilors Cornelio Almacin and Alfredo Dacumos, Kamog Brgy. Captain Patrick Lete, farmer-beneficiaries, and officials from the Municipal Agriculture Office.
