Water system improvement project for Jolo completed

MANILA, Philippines - Water system improvements in Jolo, the capital of Sulu Province in Mindanao, which have been funded by a US-Philippines partnership, have been completed by USAID’s Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program and the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA).

The water system upgrade has improved the water supply for an estimated 27,000 residents in Jolo municipality and adjacent barangays in the municipalities of Indanan and Patikul.

“This will provide potable water for people’s homes and prevent disease,” according to  Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan.

Additionally, Tan said, “It will also have a beneficial effect on economic activity.”

Acoording to Asmad Sakilan, a farmer with seven children who lives in Barangay Upper Asturias, “the water used to run only two days a week, but now runs 24 hours a day. Now the water is sufficient for our daily needs.”

The upgrade is a partnership project implemented by USAID’s Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program, under the oversight of the Mindanao Economic Development Council; LWUA; the Jolo Mainland Water District (JMWD); and the Sulu provincial government and municipal governments.

The water system components provided by the US government include the upgrading of the existing pumping system at Kiram Spring; the construction of a 200-cubic meter concrete water reservoir in Barangay Tagbak in Indanan; and the installation of a water supply pipeline segment to the reservoir totaling about 1,690 meters.

These components were turned over to the JMWD, whose counterpart in the project includes installing a pump to fill the concrete reservoir, constructing a 1.5-km transmission pipeline, replacing distribution lines to various barangays, and replacing old, leaking pipes and defective water meters.

JMWD is also providing new service connections to Kamahardikaan Village, which has about 280 households.

With the improved water service, it is anticipated that many of the residents who had stopped paying their water bills due to poor and limited service will now reactivate their connections.

“We have water in Jolo, but the original water system was antiquated, so the supply was regularly interrupted,” said Jolo Mayor Hussin Amin.

“This new development provided through USAID will help in terms of management and sustainability,” the mayor said.

He added that  “when consumers have water, they pay their [water utility] bills, and when that happens, administrative costs will be met.”

Mayor Hussin said that the provincial capital has grown in recent years into a high-density commercial and residential area.

“Jolo municipality and surrounding areas have 200,000 residents. Downtown is a bustling place,” said the mayor.

To help accelerate economic growth in the conflict-affected areas of Mindanao, USAID’s GEM Program has thus far constructed 970 infrastructure projects, and is planning the construction of about 800 more in the next few years.

The Jolo water system upgrade is a GEM Regional Impact Project (RIP), which is intended to benefit people in multiple barangays or municipalities.

A GEM RIP project completed recently in Sulu was the runway improvement of the Jolo airport.

The runway was extended from 1,200 meters to 1,845 meters and widened from 18 meters to 30 meters, and is now all concrete.

The improvements will allow the facility to accommodate larger-bodied aircraft such as Boeing 737s and Airbus 320s.

Other RIP projects include ports, roads and bridge improvements, undertaken in partnership with regional and provincial governments, local governments, and national line agencies.