DAR provides potable water in remote Pangasinan barangay
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has recently provided access to potable water for Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARB) in one of the most remote barangays in Infanta, Pangasinan.
The Community-Managed Potable Water Supply and Sanitation and Hygiene (CPWASH) project installed in Barangay Pita aims to provide potable drinking water in far-flung communities using a low-cost technology that can be easily maintained and managed by the residents.
This includes iron removal filters that strain water coming from the pump and bio-sand filters for water coming from the faucet.
Another component of the project are bio-gas digesters that convert organic wastes into methane gas that can be used by the residents for cooking.
The CPWASH project, which cost P245,000, has 14 stand pipes along the street that offer potable water simultaneously. It will benefit 100 household beneficiaries and the integrated school in the barangay.
Pita is one of thirteen remote barangays in Infanta, the last frontier of Pangasinan. It is 23 kilometers from the town proper or a 2-hour drive. There is no public transportation regularly plying the route. Elf trucks and “kalong-kalong,” a type of a top-down tricycle, are the common alternatives.
The road going to Pita is a narrow opening between mountains and large rocks scatter along the way. The road is dusty during the dry season while the rainy season renders it slippery and inaccessible.
Because of the road condition, basic necessities such as potable drinking water are not always available to the community.
“Malimit na problema dito ang kakulangan ng tubig. Mayroon namang supply, kaya nga lang hindi maayos ang distribusyon. May tangke paero hindi nagagamit,” says Henry Andero, a former barangay kagawad of Pita.
“May hose na ginagamit na daluyan ng tubig kaso ‘pag ginagamit na nila sa taas, nawawalan ng tubig ang mga bahay sa bandang ibaba. Iyan ang dahilan ng hindi pagkakaintindihan dito,” Andero added.
The CPWASH project was made possible through the initiative of the DAR and the combined efforts of the people in Pita.
Teacher Abigail Ann Beltran of Pita Integrated High School related the bayanihan they community did. The teachers and students cleaned the stones for the iron removal filters, while the barangay council headed by Punong Barangay Rolando Bumacas provided the manpower in the construction of the tank used as a water reservoir.
Last December, the CPWAS project was turned over to the people of Pita by the DAR, headed by PARPO II Ma. Ana B. Francisco, CESO V of the DAR Provincial Office of Pangasinan. PARPO Francisco assured the people that there would be more projects to be given in Barangay Pita.
On behalf of his constituents, Bumacas expressed their gratitude for choosing Barangay Pita as a recipient of such project despite their remote location.
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