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'Paradise lost' now regained
Tagbilaran City (27 June 2005) -- Residents of the 16 islets of Concepcion, Iloilo heaved a sigh of relief as Kaakbay Laban sa Kahirapan (KALAHI) inaugurated a water system project stopping the flooding of disease in Barangays Nipa and Botlog.

The place, sometimes referred to as Nature Paradise is abundant in natural resources, however its residents live in misery as they are faced by high costs of clean drinking water and the possibility of contamination causing more diseases. With no dependable water service to rely on, tourism projects which it can right away capitalize remain a dream.

Located some two kilometers from Polopina, the islets boasts of teeming marine life and an eaually divers wildlife in its forests. Here in its forests thrive monkey-eating eagles, and in its seas are sea turtles, fish, squid and more abundant sea bounty.

But tourism, as their ladder off misery is far with the water problem they got.
Then in 2003, residents of Botlog and Nipa saw a ray of hope with the KALAHI water systems project funded by the Presidents' Social Funds.

Brandishing cooperation, residents put up labor counterpart, a good eight days, when fisher-folks and local residents made government work for them.

In no less than a time, Nipa residents now have faucets and Botlog enjoy water through an underwater pipe linked to the mainland.

Before Kalahi, residents used to travel the two kilometers to Polopina to buy potable water, oof course, at a high rate. This situation drains what residents earn in their meager jobs fishing. This also led some of them to poach sea turtles to supplement their income.

The residents now also vow to implement a newly legislated anti-poaching ordinance.

Now, they do not just have water services, they also saw the coming of the tourists owing to the fact that they now have better services to cater to the tourists. (PIA)

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