All public schools will have running water ahead of reopening as part of the health measures set to curb the spread of Covid-19.
With less than three weeks to go before students return to class, the Ministry of Water has assured parents that provision of water had been addressed.
According to the Chief Administration Secretary (CAS) in the ministry Dr Andrew Tuimur, they were working with donors to address the issue of water supply.
Tuimur termed water as critical in the fight against the pandemic that saw learning and other major activities in the country paralyzed for over nine months.
“When the pandemic hit the country we increased our water supply which is critical in hand washing as one way of controlling this virus,” he said.
He added that they were working closely with UNICEF and Rotary to drill more boreholes targeting vulnerable families and semi-arid regions.
The CAS noted that currently, water supply in the country stood at 60 per cent while sanitation was at 20 per cent, figures he termed as too low.
“Our vision is to increase water coverage to 80 per cent by 2024 and on sanitation to 40 per cent in the same period,” he said.
Tuimur was speaking to the press at Simba Lodge in Naivasha after meeting the Parliamentary Committee on delegated legislation to discuss amendments on the Water Act of 2016.
He admitted that the Act needed to be amended adding that they were engaging various stakeholders so that their input could be included in the amendments.
He said that the transfer of assets by the national government to counties had been faced with challenges with many of the projects collapsing and becoming unsustainable.
“We have decided to amend this water act to address the emerging challenges and the ministry is currently working on over 500 water and sanitation projects countrywide,” he said.
The chair of the committee Muriuki Njagagua said that they were keen to amend the bill so that water could be available to all parts of the country.
He accused some water providers of supplying ‘air’ and billing clients millions of shillings noting that this would be addressed once the act was amended.
The Mbeere North Mp took issue with some governors who had neglected supplying water to areas that they perceived to be critical to them.