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2010 Speeches (As delivered)

 

M E S S A G E

BY

MINISTER MOTOHIKO KATO

 

ON THE OCCASION OF THE

 

TURN-OVER CEREMONY FOR THE PROJECT FOR

CONSTRUCTION OF POTABLE WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM IN

BARANGAY LATBANG IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF KAYAPA, NUEVA VIZCAYA

 

19 November 2010

Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya

 


Honorable Mayor John D. Balasya,

Municipality of Kayapa

 

Mr. Isagani Serrano,

President of PRRM

 

Mr. Ryosuke Kawabe,

GLM Institute

 

Distinguished Guests,

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

Naimbag nga bigat (Good morning)!

 

First of all, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude for the warm welcome you have given to me and my colleague. I was amazed to see the breathtaking hills and valleys of Nueva Vizcaya which are parts of the Central Cordillera Mountain Range.

 

It is a great pleasure for me to join you in this turnover ceremony. Improving people's access to safe drinking water has always been one of the top priorities of Japan in providing assistance at the grassroots level. This will greatly contribute towards the achievement of one of the Millennium Development Goals, which is to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2015.

 

The Municipality of Kayapa is blessed with rich natural resources especially water. There are a lot of rivers and springs in the municipality. However, I hear that not all of the water from these sources is safe for drinking. I am therefore honored to state that Japan's assistance has been useful in addressing Barangay Latbang residents' needs for a potable water system.

 

Residents of the barangay, especially the women and children, will now have plenty of time to carry out more productive activities instead of hiking for hours every day just to fetch water. I hope that this project will also improve the sanitary conditions in this barangay through the significant reduction in the incidences of water-borne diseases.

 

Let me also take this opportunity to convey my sincerest appreciation to the strong leadership of Mayor Balasya as well as the great efforts by the officials and staff of the Local Government of Kayapa. I am pleased to hear the successful completion of the project. I would also like to express my strong hope to the residents of Barangay Latbang whose active and consistent participation in this project will play an important role in achieving sustainable results. The management of the water system is now in your hands.

 

Finally, I believe that this project will further strengthen the friendship between the people of the Philippines and Japan and will also add to the fostering of strategic partnership between our two countries towards the future.

 

Agyamanak Unay (Thank you very much)!