Water service woes

•Council tackles DECA Mintal water problem

THE WATER issue at the DECA Homes Mintal in Barangay Tacunan, Tugbok District has reached the halls of the legislative body.

Councilor Bai Hundra Cassandra Dominique Advincula who heads the housing and subdivision development committee filed the resolution on Tuesday. Members of the committee will be conducting a public hearing to hear both sides of the matter on still unstated dates.

Complainant Efren Cabase, a DECA Homes Mintal resident, sent a letter dated Dec. 9, 2019 to Mayor Sara Duterte asking intervention and guidance on the status of their water supply.

In his complaint, Cabase said the water at Phase 3 of the subdivision is supplied by BP Waterworks Inc., an exclusive partner of 8990 Holdings, Inc., the developer of the DECA Homes Subdivision.

But the other phases in the said subdivision are already supplied by the Davao City Water District (DCWD).

“Imagine the disparity, we are in the same subdivision in the same city but we are supplied by different water service providers, and the quality is degrading,” Cabase wrote.

Last year, several residents complained on the water system.

In a survey conducted with the residents, Cabase said they figured out that BP Waterworks implemented “unreasonable, unjust and corrupt” practices.

“Our water bill is fixed with minimum consumption or flag down cost. Regardless of the amount we consumed, some of us residents are paying a minimum of P180. After comparing our bills, we noticed that there is a minimum volume of consumption and corresponding amount that we find unfair,” he said.

“We are supposed to pay for what we have consumed only. Is it fair to implement a flag down rate of basic services?”

He also said that the reconnection fee is exorbitant. He said that this came after the water service provider implemented a new policy on the disconnection of water service.

“My bill, for example, on the average is P200, and I have to pay reconnection fee of P532, which is almost three times of my bill. We felt like we were hostage and we have to pay the ransom in the guise of reconnection fee that is higher than our bill,” he said.

Cabase said the service disconnection policy is unjust as there has been a series of disconnection dates implemented.

There are also complaints that even if homeowners pay on time, they still experience unfair distribution of water connection.

“We sought to clarify things with BP Waterworks but all they told us was it is their policy and that there is nothing we can do about it,” Cabase said.

Attached in Cabase’s letter was the list of signatures of the complaining residents.