The Minister of Housing and Municipalities pledged to continue a sweeping fix to bring clean water to a Devonshire neighbourhood.

Zane DeSilva said several weeks of work had been devoted to plumbing systems at Mary Victoria Road, Alexandra Road and Cedar Park.

He told the House of Assembly that he would continue to fix these problems — and challenged the public to hold him to account.

Mr DeSilva said: “I’ll lay down the gauntlet right now and say that, if God spares life, we’re going to fix a lot of those things up at those three complexes.

“I’ve already told the Premier that we may need some extra money to do that.”

He added: “We’ve already done quite a lot already. But we’re not going to stop.

“I don’t mind the people holding me to account.

“I say these things publicly and they can hold me to account. If we don’t get it done, give me the licks that I deserve.”

Residents have struggled for decades with access to clean water and reliable water pressure.

Those who lived in the area renewed their demands earlier this year and added a call for proper lighting.

Mr DeSilva said that he and other ministers had met with residents in April for the first time in the neighbourhood’s history.

Jaché Adams, the Minister of Public Works and Environment; Alexa Lightbourne, the Minister of Home Affairs; and Diallo Rabain, MP for the area, were also present.

Mr DeSilva said he urged the residents of each street to form condo associations and pledged to start a “mixed association” of residents and government members.

He said that water reservoirs and samples from homes had been tested and that further water tests would continue.

Mr DeSilva said pipes were examined for obstructions and that the crew immediately found blockages, including a tree root bringing soil into the water.

He added: “It was like pulling a Snickers bar out of the package.”

Other upgrades, Mr DeSilva said, involved talks with Belco to bring in street lamps.

He added that CCTV cameras had been fixed near garbage bins to make sure the proper waste was being disposed of at the right time.

Mr DeSilva said: “When people turn on their taps and the water’s coming out brown, we need to fix it.

“We cannot have our people have their water come out brown. It’s not happening.”

Mr DeSilva said repairs would not be an overnight fix, admitting that the process would not be “quick enough”.

But he assured the House that there would be “no energy spared” to get it done.