Huge water bills haunt BCL ex-employees

The excitement for the extended free housing was abruptly cut short, as some reported during a general meeting that was held on Tuesday that their bills soar up to P8,000 a month, even though they have seriously cut back on water usage. This is said to be a result of the underground leakages as a result of worn-out pipes in almost all the BCL houses.

Occupants said all the pipes are fitted inside, hence it is difficult to detect any leakage. They also complained of the slow reaction by the Mine’s maintenance team to attend to reported leakages. They added that though they would not have much problems with paying bills, they were worried that Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) never consults them when disconnecting water to separate housing units from the mine to individual accounts. “They just disconnect without informing us, or making any written agreement with us, and sometimes we would not be having reconnection fees,” ex-employee Head Seponono said.