RESIDENTS of Government housing have invited Premier Jennifer Smith to take time out from her political anniversary celebrations tomorrow to take a look around their termite-infested home.

Debbie Williams and her family have lived for the past 18 months in Anchorage Road, St. George's, in Bermuda Housing Corporation emergency accommodation that she says is crumbling, has dangerous wiring and is riddled with insects.

The property, Gourlay Apartments, is just a short walk away from Tobacco Bay, where a family fun day and a barbecue will be held tomorrow as part of the St. George's Progressive Labour Party branch's celebrations of Premier Smith's 30 years in public service.

Ms Williams lives in the $850-a-month, two-bedroomed apartment with her 17-year-old son and pregnant 19-year-old daughter, who is due to give birth this month.

She said she and her daughter, who did not wish to be named, had written to Health & Family Services Minister Nelson Bascome to tell him of the appalling state of their home, but she said nothing had come of it.

Now Ms Williams, who voted for Premier Smith at the 1998 General Election, intends to take more direct action to grab the attention of her local MP.

"I'm going to take a sign down to Tobacco Bay that says: 'No. 11, Anchorage Road, Open House', so she (the Premier) can come and see how some of the people who voted her in have to live," said Ms Williams.

"While they're down there drinking champagne, we'll be sitting at home with termites flying around. I hope that she can get off her high horse, take two minutes out of her busy schedule and come down here to see it for herself. But I know she won't, because she doesn't do things like that.

"The window frames are loose and when a man came over from Belco he told us that the wiring in the house was a health hazard.

"Bermuda is supposed to be the third richest country in the world. Nobody in Bermuda should have to live this way." Ms Williams said the termite damage was so bad that the window frames were rotten and unstable and that cockroaches and spiders were also major problems.

Several weeks ago her daughter suffered bug bites on her legs that became infected. One bite mark was so bad that a doctor had to cut it open to remove the pus.

Ms Williams and her daughter bottled some of the various pests they found in their home and took them to the Health Department. Consequently, the pregnant woman's physician Dr. Brenda Davidson wrote to the BHC.

Dr. Davidson's letter, under a Department of Health letterhead and dated April 29 this year, pointed out that Ms Williams' daughter was seven months pregnant and added: "She suffers from recurrent insect bites on her legs which she attributes to infestation in her residence.

"The Environmental Health Department should be contacted to check the property and make recommendations on whether fumigation, etc., is appropriate."

Ms Williams said Dr. Davidson had written twice to the BHC but no action had resulted. Her daughter also wrote to Mr. Bascome last month.

An excerpt from her letter reads: "The house is infested with insects: roaches, termites, spiders and other bugs . . . I am pregnant, my baby is due at the end of June, and I don't think my newborn should be living his life like this. Mr. Bascome, I do not want to put up his crib and that's not right.

"This building needs to be fumigated by your department . . . I hope that my family can have a safe home, before my baby is due."

Yesterday morning, Ms Williams was awakened at 4 a.m. by the sound of bugs buzzing around her apartment and wrote a letter to this newspaper to express her despair.

Ms Williams' next-door neighbour Dee-Ann Coke has been waiting a year for suitable accommodation to be found, so she can move out of the emergency housing. In her $800-a-month, one-bedroomed apartment, she lives with her husband, 11-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son.

Mrs. Coke and her husband sleep on mattresses on the living room floor, while the children share a single bed in the bedroom.

"We used to have a box-spring mattress on the floor as well, but we had to throw it out because it got infested with termites," said Mrs Coke.

"When we first came here, they (the BHC) said, 'You won't be living here long, so don't bother unpacking your furniture'. Here we are a year later living out of boxes."

Both the Williams family and the Coke family have been offered alternative homes during their time living at Gourlay Apartments, but have turned them down as unsatisfactory.

Ms Williams and Mrs. Coke said they turned down properties in Middletown, Hamilton, while Ms Williams also rejected a Sandys apartment and Ms Coke turned down an alternative in Southside.

Ms Williams said she had received help from Opposition politicians Kim Swan and Michael Dunkley, as well as Government backbencher the Rev. Larry Lowe.

Ms Williams said: "I voted for Jennifer Smith but she has done nothing to help me. I'm getting tired, fed-up and restless. If the Government don't pay attention to the people, there will be an uprising.

"But I think the UBP should take a share of the blame for the state of this emergency housing as well. They were in power a long time and they knew what state these buildings were in."

Sen. Swan sympathised with the Williams family and said their situation was symptomatic of a wider problem.

"There are always a number of people who do find times a little bit harder than they would like and that is the issue that confronts this family," Sen. Swan said.

"They have found themselves in an emergency situation, but that does not mean they should be in an environment that is not healthy. Everybody is entitled to comfortable conditions that meet decent housing standards.

"It is unfortunate that this young lady is pregnant in this situation. I can appreciate what she must be going through, worrying about her newborn.

"This case shows there is a wider issue of housing in our community, an issue that is extremely important in Bermuda and needs to be addressed."

The Mid-Ocean News faxed a list of questions to Government Information Services for Mr. Bascome at midday yesterday, including whether any action would be taken following the letters sent to him by Ms Williams and her daughter, whether any fumigation or renovation was planned for Gourlay Apartments and whether Mr. Bascome believed the emergency housing was fit for people to live in. Mr. Bascome had not responded by press time last night.