ZAMBOANGA CITY, May 16 (PNA) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is building up a PhP2.2 million communal water system project in Barangay Taluksangay, 19 kilometers east of City Hall.
The project is being undertaken in close coordination with the Taluksangay barangay council.
ICRD assistant Gabriel Anthony Daclan said Saturday the water system project was expected to be completed and operational by the end of June or mid-July this year.
Daclan said the project would benefit the residents of Taluksangay, a waterless barangay, as well as the 373 families relocated to the place after they were displaced during the 21-day September 2013 siege.
At present, the residents of Taluksangay buy water from nearby barangay of Talabaan while the local chapter of the Philippine Red Cross provides water to the displaced families.
Daclan said somee 2.4 kilometers of pipeline were being laid from the water source at Sitio Gapuh, Barangay Talabaan to reservoir at the campus of the Taluksangay National High School.
Daclan said water from the source had passed the potability tests conducted by the Zamboanga City Water District (ZCWD).
He said that eight communal taps, where the people could draw water, would be connected to the reservoir.
He said the works were being undertaken by 30 internally displaced persons (IDP) hired through the cash-for-work program.
“Taluksangay is a rural area and the people are facing difficulty since the place has no water. We are happy to find a water source at a property owned by the Nuño family,” he said.
The barangay chairman of Taluksangay is Abdurahman Nuño, the husband of second district Rep. Lilia Nuño.
Daclan said the project, once completed, would greatly alleviate the plight of the residents of Taluksangay and the relocated IDP families.
Daclan said the project would be turned over to the barangay council of Taluksangay for it to manage the water system upon completion. (PNA)