|
About
the Area
Three
major linguistic groups inhabit the area, namely:
the Tagalogs who predominate in the provinces
of Bulacan, Bataan and Nueva Ecija and parts
of Zambales; the Pampangos in Pampanga and parts
of Tarlac; and the Ilocanos in parts of Tarlac,
Nueva Ecija and Zambales.
Agriculture
is the main source of livelihood in the area
with rice, corn and sugar cane as lead cash
crops. In the coastal areas, however, fishing
and aquaculture are primary source of income
of the people. There are also cottage and limited
manufacturing and processing industries as well
as numerous small to medium business enterprises.
Employment in various public and private offices,
firms and establishments is also becoming a
major income source of the people particularly
in the region's more urbanized areas.
Apart
from its relative proximity to Metro Manila
or the National Capital Region (NCR), one advantage
enjoyed by the region is the presence of three
(3) major road networks which originate or pass
through it connecting its provinces and most
of its cities and towns to NCR and the different
provinces of the Ilocos and Cagayan Valley regions
in Northern Luzon. These road networks are the
old McArthur Highway to the west, the centrally-located
North Luzon Expressway and the Cagayan Valley
Road (part of the Pan-Philippine Highway) to
the east.
Two
major river systems, the Pampanga and the Angat
rivers, provide ample source of potable water
supply and irrigation.
Water
supply development
The
number of towns and cities falling under the
jurisdiction of LWUA and hence qualified to
form their water districts totals to 122. Of
this number, water districts have already been
established in 94 covering 96 municipalities
and cities, leaving only 26 towns and cities
yet to form their own water districts. This
translates to an area coverage of about 80 percent,
the highest in the country. These duly-formed
water districts are enumerated per province
below.
The
water districts in the region, in addition to
their membership in the Philippine Association
of Water Districts (PAWD) have organized themselves
as early as the mid-80s into a regional organization
which was initially called the Central Luzon
Water Information Council (CLUWIC) and which
later evolved into what is now known as the
Central Luzon Association of Water Districts
or CLAWAD. Aside from CLAWAD, the water districts
in the region also have their own respective
provincial water districts associations : the
BAWAD ( Bulacan ), the PAMAWAD ( Pampanga ),
the BATAWAD (Bataan), ZAWD (Zambales), the TAWD
(Tarlac) and the NEWADA (Nueva Ecija).
As
in other regions, water districts in the area
have acknowledged leaders or so-called godfather
water districts namely: San Jose del Monte City
Water District for Bulacan; Angeles City Water
District for Pampanga; Balanga Water District
for Bataan; Subic Water District for Zambales;
Tarlac City Water District for Tarlac and Cabanatuan
City Water District for Nueva Ecija.
Of
the 94 established water districts, 75 are operational
and 19 are non-operational . These operational
water districts are currently providing potable
piped water supply to a total of 330,455 household
connections serving some 1.98 million people.
Sources of water of the water districts in the
area are mainly deep and shallow wells and a
few springs.
Water
districts in Area 2 hold the industry record
for the lowest non-revenue water percentage
at an average of only 19 percent.
Average
water district collection efficiency (total
billing vs. actual collection from water consumers)
is also high at 93 percent.
Recipients
of LWUA Loan Assistance Program in the Area
in 2004: Marilao, P37.969 million;
Candaba, Guagua, P28.204 million; San Antonio
(Z), P22.687 million; Limay, P20.928 million;
Norzagaray, P20.392 million; Floridablanca,
P19.490 million; Meycauayan, P18.876 million;
Rizal, P18.414 million; San Jose City, P17.566
million; Sta, Ignacia, P17.498 million; Hermosa,
P17.481 million; San Antonio (NE), P17.055 million;
Jaen, P17.040 million; Licab, P16.281 million;
Cuyapo, P15.870 million; Cabagan, P14.478 million;
Pandi, P12.708 million; San Miguel, P11.403
million; Palayan, P9.763 million; Taligtug,
P9.184 million.
|
