HINDS... I am done talking to the NWC

    He says he has also written to the prime minister and the health minister with the concerns, in an effort to get help for the problem, which is affecting residents in nearby communities.

    According to Hinds, the recent discovery of a case of malaria at the Caymanas Park is reason enough to put pressure on the water company as the poorly maintained ponds breed mosquitoes which make residents' lives unbearable.

    "We have been talking to the NWC for quite some time and to be honest I am done talking to them. I am now writing to the prime minister [Bruce Golding] and the minister of health [Ruddy Spencer]," Hinds told the Observer. "I just need them to come in and clean those ponds. I am giving them until the 31st of January to clean them and after that [if they are not cleaned] they are going to have hell to pay."

    He added: "The lilies are overgrown and the mosquitoes don't live in the water, they live on the lilies. There has to be maintenance because we are talking about 24 ponds that are filled with crocodiles and there is a primary school on one side, a basic school on one side, a high school on the other side..."

    Although there has been only one confirmed case of malaria in the area, Hinds said he suspects there are at least four more.

    "I have told the public health (department) about what I have heard and I am expecting them to investigate this matter," Hinds said.

    When contacted last Friday, the NWC's corporate public relations manager, Charles Buchanan, refused to comment on the matter.

    In 2006, responding to similar questions, Buchanan told the Observer that a lack of resources had hampered the NWC's ability to adequately maintain the sewage treatment plants.

    "The NWC has never had the kind of revenue to enable it to upgrade and maintain the infrastructure to meet the highest standard," he said then.

    Meanwhile, Councillor Leon Thomas (People's National Party - Hellshire Division) said he has been appealing to the NWC for years to clean the ponds which he said have overflowed into nearby communities on several occasions.

    "The ponds have not been cleaned for some time now. They cut the bush round the pond, but they don't clean it," he told the Observer. "We have experienced cases where the sewage water has overflowed its banks and is backing up into the community. It affects 2 East, 2 West, 3 West and 3 East especially, and the stench from it goes as far as 2 North. The people up there said when the breeze blows the stench is unbearable. And then we have two basic schools, one primary school and one high school in close proximity, about 100 yards from the ponds."

    Thomas was particularly concerned that students who have just returned to school from the Christmas break, will have to contend with the stench from the ponds.

    He said the residents felt betrayed as there was a 90 per cent compliance rate in the municipality in terms of customers who pay their water bills.

    "The community is not getting value for its money," he said, adding that at least 50 per cent of the pumps in the sewage ponds are not functioning.