Eleven municipalities in Negros Oriental are holding orientations to renew their commitment for the second cycle of Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS), a poverty-alleviation project implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The orientation marks the launching for the second cycle of the project in every municipality.
“The municipal orientation is a critical part of each cycle because it generates awareness and acceptance of the project and provides an open forum where the technical and administrative requirements in the implementation of the project are agreed upon by the local chief executives together with the sectoral and community representatives,” DSWD Regional Director Mercedita Jabagat said during the open forum.
The 11 municipalities have poverty incidence rate greater than the national average of 26.5 percent based on the data from National Statistics Coordinating Board (NSCB) in 2009.
These include Ayungon, Basay, Bindoy, Dauin, Jimalalud, Mabinay, Manjuyod, Pamplona, Sta. Catalina, Vallehermoso and Zamboanguita.
In the first cycle of Kalahi-CIDSS implementation in the province, DSWD-7 have constructed 56 community projects, including farm-to-market roads, water systems, school buildings, footbridges, day care centers, barangay heath centers, drainage systems and a rain water harvester, all implemented by the communities themselves with funding of assistance from the Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a funding agency created by the US Congress.
Some of the projects are still under construction.
A total of P132,818,849.05 million grant was poured in Negros Oriental by MCC for the first cycle alone. The province will have two more cycles starting with this municipal orientation.