Thika’s Joytown School for the physically challenged is calling on the county government to help clear a Sh2.3 million water bill.
The school’s administration says that the school’s water supply has been disconnected by the Thika Water and Sanitation Company (Thiwasco) over the bill which has accrued since 1999.
The disconnection was done in December last year after the school administration failed to clear the debt.
According to the Institution’s Principal, Leah Kamonye, the water bill has been accruing and she was shocked when she arrived in the institution in 2013 and informed of the challenge the school had been encountering.
“When I arrived here in 2013, the water company disconnected water even without notice. I went to their offices but they gave me the records with the unpaid dues and I was shocked,” Kamonye said.
She added that Rotary International financed a borehole which they have been using but which has allegedly become too expensive to run.
“The maintenance of the borehole is costly as it consumes electricity of up to Sh60,000 per month We incur a lot of expenses pumping the water,” she added.
The school’s bursar, Julius Museve, who has been at the institution since the 1980s said the bill accumulated because the then mayor gave them a waiver by paying their bills several months without any kind of writing and thus it was not gazetted.
Museve said that they are currently paying Sh30,000 per month to the water company to ensure they reduce the debt before they get a well-wisher to help them clear the accumulated bill.