Remote Sulu Village Now Has Potable Water System

Muslim villagers pose in Banguingui town, formerly Tongkil, in the Sulu archipelago. (Photo by Roland Ramos)

BANGUINGUI, SULU ARCHIPELAGO (Roland Ramos / 07 Mar) Residents of the remote coastal village of Kahikukuk in Banguingi town are rejoicing over the recent completion of a potable water system that will provide clean drinking water to close to 250 households in and nearby areas and is expected to reduce the incidence of diarrhea and other waterborne diseases in these communities.

The system, which will pump underground water into an overhead tank to 6 tapstands using solar photovoltaic energy, was funded by the Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF) and constructed by the Alliance for Mindanao Off-grid Renewable Energy (AMORE) Program of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department of Energy, Mirant Philippines Foundation, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and the non-profit organization, Winrock International.

Before the system’s completion, locals fetched water from an unsafe source in makeshift wells about a kilometer and a half away from their villages.

The potable water system is also expected to increase the villagers’ productive time, which would more than cover the 25-peso monthly fee they agreed to pay their community association — the Kahikukuk Barangay Renewable Energy and Community Development Association or KBRECDA — for their use of the system.

KBRECDA, organized and trained by AMORE, will use the funds to operate and maintain the system. KBRECDA will also spearhead the protection and development of the Kahikukuk watershed to ensure the integrity of the system’s water supply.

AMORE Area 1 Manager Miralam C. Tillah and PEF Associate Director Ricardo Torres, Jr. inaugurated and turned over the system to KBRECDA Chairperson Asaali Muhalli and Banguingi MLGU in the presence of PEF Program Officer Ana Maria Caspe.

Muhalli vowed to properly maintain and sustain the system. PEF officials challenged the KBRECDA to sustain the project. The said project was the first ever kind introduced by AMORE in joint project with PEF in Sulu.

“Our community will treasure and sustain this project”, Muhalli stressed citing the trust USAID-AMORE gave them in operating and maintaining renewable energy project.

Prior to the construction of the potable water system, AMORE electrified Kahikukuk with photovoltaic battery charging stations. The organization operates 30 household members using renewable and clean electrification system.

Its sister program, Solar Energy for Rural Electrification and Development (SERED) of USAID, SunPower Corporation and Winrock, will soon introduce solar-powered, TV-based distance education facilities in the village in partnership with the Knowledge Channel Foundation.