LEGAZPI CITY, July 25 (PNA) — Marjorie Oshiro of Barangay San Roque, Sto. Domingo, Albay was delighted that the construction of the drainage canal that will benefit 224 households, including theirs, has started last July 16.
“Our house gets inundated during continuous downpour and we look forward to see that the canal will protect us from flooding once completed,” Oshiro said.
She is one of the villagers who take the lead role in the implementation of the 1,284 people-identified sub-projects in Bicol under the Kapit- Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) and who have already started the construction of these community projects this month.
“We aim to have these sub-projects completed before the year ends so that the poor villages can immediately use these facilities and services,” Arnel Garcia, Department of Social Welfare and Development Bicol regional director, said Friday.
Sub-projects refer to the community projects generated through the Kalahi-CIDSS planning process.
It is a set of development activities or interventions designed, implemented, maintained by a partner community in a barangay in order to respond to or address the needs or problems identified during the Participatory Situation Analysis held recently.
Garcia said the DSWD has already downloaded Php1.048 billion out of the Php2.3-billion grant for the 2014-2015 implementation of the Kalahi-CIDSS to the communities in 88 municipalities.
San Roque has already received the first tranche download of Php453,144.20 out of the total project cost of Php566,430.25.
The involved barangays have already opened separate bank accounts to get the Kalahi-CIDSS grants.
“The project-hired area coordinators of DSWD, barangay treasurers and the Barangay Sub-Project Management Committee chairpersons are the bank signatories authorized to disburse the funds for the labor and materials and other administrative expenses incurred for the sub-projects,” Garcia said.
The DSWD requires the communities to submit documents to avail themselves of the funds, which are released in three tranches.
The DSWD will only download the first tranche of the funds when the communities completely submit documents such as project proposals, technical/engineering, financial, legal and procurement documents.
The rest of the funds are only transferred to their accounts when the communities reach the required target for the sub-project physical completion and fund utilization with corresponding liquidation of documents to DSWD for the succeeding two tranches.
“The residents who are elected as volunteers are trained on project management with the technical assistance from our DSWD-hired employees to ensure that there is people participation and transparency in all transactions done,” Garcia said.
Communities were selected based on the community’s population, number of poor households and damage-affected households by Typhoon “Glenda” and Super Typhoon “Yolanda”. (PNA)