Potable water system

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor PATRICK PANGILINAN Busines Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

Putting up a potable water system project worth P500,000 in a remote barangay in Guihulngan, Negros Oriental, is a very laudable idea of this administration.

Water is an essential natural resource for human existence. Many of the urban water supply networks in developing countries face problems related to population increase, water scarcity, and environment pollution.

In 1900, only 13 percent of the global population lived in cities. This percentage has been rising, and in 2005, 49 percent of the global population lived in urban areas.In the year 2030 it was predicted, that these statistics will rise to 60 percent (World Urbanization Prospects, 2005).

A UN-HABITAT report showed that there are attempts to expand water supply by government that are costly and often not sufficient. The building of new illegal settlements makes it hard to map, and make connections to the water supply and leads to inadequate water management.

Many people in some parts of this province do not have access to quality and enough quantity of potable water. The principal cause of water scarcity is climate change such as when precipitation patterns change, rivers have decrease their flow, and lakes dry up.

We believe that the proposed project will benefit those people living in far-flung areas of the province, especially Brgy. Hibaiyo in Guihulngan.

We hope and pray that the government will be able to construct more sensible projects such as constructing water systems that will someday be replicated in other remote barangays in the country that do not have a source for potable water in their area.*