Huge water bills haunt BCL ex-employees
Onalenna Kelebeile | Thursday September 28, 2017 09:47
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.
Matshidiso Tselaesele wondered how it is possible for a single house unit’s water bill to reach P6,000 in a month when they are currently careful on water usage.
“This inconsistent and unjustifiable water bills have to be addressed,” she said. Some occupants even suggested that WUC use money kept by the Mine for relocations to pay reconnection fees and that the money would then be returned to that account when the corporation refunds the occupants by the time they vacate the houses.
One participant suggested that all BCL houses be transferred to council as soon as possible for maintenance and security so that they are not sold as part of the mine assets when the company is sold. A WUC official, Bampoetse Kaphepa admitted that some bills were high because BCL houses had underground leakages.
He suggested that the only solution that has already been brought to the Mine’s attention was to install a new plumbing system. He said it is unfortunate that the Mine is aware of the problem and that it (the problem) reflected badly on the corporation. He reiterated that complaints regarding high bills have been passed on to the Mine.
He added that a few months ago, the Mine’s provisional liquidator, Nigel Dixon-Warren presented 591 housing units to WUC to disconnect water and install individual water metres. Kaphepa said the liquidator drafted leases for those houses and paid P1.6m for the project to install new individual metre. He added that Phase 1 of the project covered 191 houses. He explained that the individual account is linked to all the accounts that the individual has, hence people were required to clear all outstanding balances before they could be reconnected.
Kaphepa said so far they have covered 382 houses and the project is still ongoing to cover all the 591 houses and emphasised the challenge of leakages and the need to embark on an overhaul of the plumbing system. Thakadiawa councillor, Evelyn Kgodungwe urged occupants to look after the houses and desist from subletting them to other tenants who do not have contracts with the Mine. “Please co-operate with the Mine and safeguard the property and keep it clean and also take care of the utility bills,” she said.