Thieves of manhole covers in Thika Town and its surroundings have been given a stern warning against continued theft of the materials.
The warning was issued on Tuesday by James Ikua, the officer in charge of water and sewerage treatment at Thika Water and Sewerage Company (THIWASCO).
Ikua, speaking in his Thika office, said that the company was incurring a lot in regular replacement of the manhole covers.
"The thieves of these covers are nothing but heartless people who even don't care about the safety of the others. We urge them to abandon that illegal business or they will have only themselves to blame," said Ikua.
Ikua also urged residents living near manholes to man them to prevent vandals from stealing their covers.
"Residents should not look at those covers as if they are not theirs. They should take care of them having in mind that they are taking care of their own safety and sanitation," he said.
The officer, however, indicated that plans were underway to start replacing the metallic covers with covers made from non-recyclable materials.
"We are no longer using the metallic covers which are prone to vandalism especially where we are constructing new sewer lines. We are also in the process or replacing the current metallic ones," said Ikua.