State owned school hit again with water and power cut
State owned King George Sixth (KGVI) school has been punished for its hefty unpaid with the disconnection of water and electricity to the school in the past days.
And this is likely to result in the slow start of its second semester classes.
Solomon Water was the first to cut off the school’s water supply last Wednesday followed by Solomon Islands Electricity Authority (SIEA) disconnected the school’s power supply on Tuesday.
Reports reaching the paper said the reason being for the disconnection is due to unpaid bills which has accumulated over the months.
This was the second time for the school to have experienced such disconnections from these two essential services.
The Solomon Star understands the school supposed to kick off its second semester registration and other administrative matters this week.
But with the latest setback classes may not proceed on time.
A staff spoken to said it looks unlikely for the school to begin classes next week if water and power are not restored.
The staff member said the problem has affected registration and administrative work planned for this week.
“This is an unfortunate situation and government through the ministry of education must quickly act to settle the unpaid bills to allow school to start next week.”
An officer within the ministry of education accounts division spoken to has confirmed they have already given the payment for electricity after the receiving the bills just this week.
He said power should be restored once the payment is made.
The officer added the payment for water will be made later when the budget is submitted through.
Last month alone the school’s electricity bill stands at $17,972.34, it was revealed.
Both Solomon Water and SIEA have confirmed the water and power cuts attributing it unpaid bills.
Although the two SOE’s do not want to reveal the outstanding dues, they have reported that this is a normal practice they take on customers who have failed to pay up their outstanding bills.
Last year SIEA also disconnected the school’s power after its outstanding electricity bills accumulated to around $415,873.
More than $131,000 of the amount is outstanding arrears, which the ministry settled before power was restored last year.
Meanwhile the staff member is calling on the ministry of education to quickly settle the issue as soon as possible because failure to address the issue will affect the education of students and staff as they try to prepare for the new semester.
BY DANIEL NAMOSUAIA
