The Local Government Unit of MacArthur in Leyte, funded thru Municipal Program Development Coordinator, conducted the Municipal /Barangay Sub-Project Inspectorate Team (M/BSIT) re-orientation training last March 19, 2019 at La Villa Domingo Beach Resort , Brgy. San Pedro, MacArthur Leyte.
Municipal Inter-Agency Committee of MacArthur and Kalahi CIDSS Area Coordinating Team led the conduct of the one-day activity which has an aim to have a refresher course on Functionality Audit and Sustainable Evaluation Test to Municipal /Barangay Sub-Project Inspectorate Team, specifically the Barangay Sub-Project Management Committee Chairpersons and Barangay Councilors on Infrastructure of all 31 barangays of the said municipality. The Local Government of MacArthur adopts the Functionality Audit and Sustainability Evaluation Test tools of Kalahi CIDSS program and seeks to apply to all the barangay projects regardless of the funders.
Municipal Engineer Engr. Tifanny Garcelaso encouraged all the Municipal /Barangay Sub-Project Inspectorate Team members to be functional. On the other hand, Municipal Planning and Development Coordinatot Engr. Fortunato Sefarino affirmed that the LGU adopts the principle of sustainability through Functionality Audit and Sustainability Evaluation Test because of the importance of monitoring and evaluation in a project. He attested, “ There are so many agencies which give aid to our municipality and barangays by introducing projects. After the project is officially turned over to us, it is not usually anchored on sustainability aspect. That is why we truly embrace the Functionality Audit and Sustainability Evaluation Test of Kalahi CIDSS and have it applied to all the projects in the municipality through the help of the Municipal and Barangay Sub-Project Inspectorate Team. This is also to strengthen the sense of ownership of the community.”
One of the principles of Kalahi CIDSS is sustainability by which the subproject will respond and serve the communities for years to come. This sustainability lies in the capability of community members to manage the completed sub-project. Thus, the formation of M/SIT. Kalahi CIDSS program has an activity mechanism like Functionality Audit and Sustainability Evaluation to ensure sustainability of subproject including its Operation and Maintenance aspect.
Moreover, Functionality Audit is a tool to ensure the functionality of the Operation & Maintenance group and technical aspect of the sub-project ensuring the implementation of program of works per planned. This tool is conducted to assess if the sub-project is ready to be turned over to the barangay.
On the other hand, the Sustainability Evaluation Test is an evaluation tool of the program which uses a set of indicators that assesses physical or technical operations and the maintenance condition of the completed sub-project and also its non-physical aspect of subproject just like the organizational and institutional component, financial management system.
Next initiated-activity of the LGU MacArthur is the scheduling of each barangay for the actual conduct of Sustainability Evaluation Test for all projects of the barangays even non-Kalahi CIDSS funded.
This is also one of the steps of the municipality of MacArthur to sustain the gains of Community-Driven Development
Currently, the LGU of MacArthur will be implementing nine prioritized subprojects amounting to Php 9.5 Million under LGU-led implementation with 1, 396 target household beneficiaries. Most of their identified interventions are drainage canal, health center and pathwalk.