A FAMILY living in a house permanently surrounded by stagnant water in its worst form, at Lot 62 Dowding Street, Kitty, Georgetown, over the last four years, is crying out for help.

In desperation, they are, once again, appealing to the municipal  authorities or any health conscious and public-spirited entity to come to their assistance and rid them of the nuisance.
The seven persons, five of whom are children ranging in age between three and sixteen years, live under such conditions daily and, virtually under duress and stress.
The water which entirely surrounds their home is about 12 inches deep, green, mossy and evidently smelly, as that from the  bathroom, kitchen sink and elsewhere all end up in the yard and lodge there, constituting a grave hazard. And it does not have to rain for their situation to become hazardous.
In order to get in and out of the building, they use pallets which are known to be made of frail boards and, because of being continually soaked, some of the wood is now frail and broken, posing a threat to those gaining ingress and egress to the premises.
But even worse, according to the elder family members, is the lingering fear that, at any time, one of them, especially the children could slip, fall into the deep and drown.
However, they are praying to God that never happens. And so, apart from taking a studied trek in and out of the house on pallets, the children never venture into the yard.
“It’s about the first home I know where the children never come out into their yard to play. They play upstairs on the verandah and, if ever their ball falls into the water, well that’s the end of it. We don’t allow them to use it anymore,” a visiting aunt said.

AMPHIBIOUS CREATURES
She said it is not unusual to see amphibious creatures lurking around the yard and it is easy for them to enter the garage which is now used as a storeroom.
The clan is continuously exposed to water-borne diseases and lives in fear of being infected because of the infested flow of all sorts of foreign matter.
In order to hang out their clothes to sun after laundering, the adults are forced to wade through the green, slimy water, wearing long boots to get access to the lines. That form of protective gear is also a priority on their shopping list.
One adult member, recalling the danger to which persons were exposed as a result of leptospirosis during the 2005 floods, is very concerned about the risk of anyone slipping down and causing water to get into their mouth.
She remembered it was under the same circumstances that former Director of Youth and Sport, Mr. Thomas Sandiford died during the flood. He is said to have fallen into infested water and accidentally ingested some of it. He was rushed to hospital but succumbed a few days later.
Meanwhile, an inspection of the area shows that the problem has come about because of poor drainage in the street. Based on the extent to which drains are clogged, no amount of digging around Lot 62 could make the water accumulated around their house to even budge.
Neighbours feel it is necessary for the drains along the entire street to be taken care of and that City Hall needs to deploy a bobcat or rent one to have the area properly drained.