1615. We met starting late morning until the afternoon with Ulli from GTZ (German Technical Cooperation). In the meeting were Attty. Cambangay, PPDC; Roger Alegado and Engr. Hermilo Arcaya all of PPDO. The plan of operations was finalized for a water project to be implemented for three years, starting 2004, here in Bohol.

The minutes of the workshop held 11 to 13 Nov was also reviewed and the final version agreed upon.

The project seeks to strengthen government capacities to plan and implement the effective management of water resources in the province.

Some of the expected outputs: integration of the provincial water supply, sanitation and solid wastes management master plan, now on its final preparation stage, with the annual development plan and the medium term development plan; integration of the master plan with the GIS database at the PPDO; formation of an integrated water resources management team; setting up demonstration sites on water supply and sanitation technologies, etc.

It’s more a capability-building project. Hopefully, we can package projects within the three-year time frame to make available safe water to most households in the province, as well as for other uses.

We remember what Andreas Kanzler, the GTZ water programme director, said in that workshop the other week. He said the project would teach us “how to fish, rather than give you fish.” This is a pet expression from community development workers the world over. Donors often say this too especially if resources are scarce and there is not much hardware to dispense. That’s why a program approach is important. Other donors who can afford hardware must come in with the gears so we can fish.

We did not hear this htf (how to fish) line from the Social Welfare people who launched the KALAHI-CIDSS-KKK program here in Bohol several months ago. The project has PhP263 million in World Bank laon to spend for 293 barangays in 12 municipalities in the province. It will be interesting to find out how much of these funds will be spent for capability building vis-à-vis the amount spent for highly visible projects (translation: infrastructure). If a project has plenty of money, the tendency is to go ahead and fish without regard to building local skills; everything will be just for show.