FRUSTRATED residents and business owners are expressing concern after parts of the Pembroke Canal have become completely clogged, creating a dramatic increase in mosquitoes as well as flooding the area every time it rains.

In 1999 then-Minister of the Environment Arthur Hodgson started a new programme which would have seen the canals cleaned up, but since his departure the programme has come to a halt.

Louise Jackson, MP for Pembroke South West, spoke about residents' concerns in the area and said the Pembroke Canal had been an "ongoing problem for years" and should be cleaned up.

Arthur Hurst, long-time resident of the area, said: "When I was growing up the bottom of this canal had white sand and we used to go fishing and swimming in here, but look at it now.

"It's a shame and disgusting that this has occurred and I don't know when they are going to do anything about it, even though they've said for months now that they will."

The Pembroke Canal water sits stagnant and is not flowing as it should via Mill Creek into the ocean. Stagnant water is a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other diseases and, according to the World Health Organisation, "pools of standing or slow-flowing water provide a breeding ground for many insects, including mosquitoes that can transmit diseases. These mosquitoes are known as vectors. Different species of mosquitoes transmit different diseases, and they will also breed in different types of water collections."

Legionnaire's disease, a bacterial disease known to cause pneumonia, is a bug that has been found in ponds and is particularly attracted to bodies of warm, stagnant water such as in the Pembroke Canal.

According to one source: "Many bacteria that live in stagnant water are anaerobic and produce different types of proteins on their surface (endotoxins) which are a lot more dangerous for humans than aerobic bacterial proteins."

There was cause for concern regarding the Pembroke Canal and the potential for a mosquito-breeding explosion because "the incidence of diseases appears to be increasing. There are many reasons: people are developing resistance to antimalarial drugs; mosquitoes are developing resistance to DDT, the major insecticide used; environmental changes are creating new breeding sites; and migration, climate change, and the creation of new habitats mean that fewer people build up natural immunity to these diseases."

Mr. Hurst, who has lived in the area his whole life, said: "You can no longer even see where the canal is and the water is not flowing like it should and everything is blocked from here back towards Dandy Town and Belco. The grass is growing right across the canal and I don't know when they are going to do anything about it.

"You can see for yourself that it really needs a good cleaning and no one has come to do the job. They started in February for a couple of days, then without warning or reason they just stopped and never came back.

"The water backs up every time it rains because the canal is not flowing at all and every time it backs up it floods my yard."

Mr. Hurst is upset with the Works & Engineering Ministry because it is its responsibility to maintain the canal.

"I talked to (Works Minister) Mr. Derrick Burgess and another gentleman named Mr. Eve at Works & Engineering. Mr. Burgess said he was going to send someone over here to clean up the canal but no one has ever shown up. Mr. Eve said they would come two weeks ago to clean it up and here it is over two weeks later and no one has come."

Mr. Hurst noted: "The canal is supposed to flow right along into Mill Creek and out to the ocean but with all the blockage it isn't flowing anywhere at all and it isn't going any further. Normally, you will see the water flowing in and out and rising with the tide but you can see for yourself it isn't doing that at all.

"It is Works & Engineering's responsibility to keep the canal clean and flowing. They've cleaned it up around the Transport Control Department and Bernard Park and down by BAA Field but they have not been out here.

"They started in February and then stopped after a day or two and haven't been back since to finish the job they started. There is tall grass and bamboo overrunning the canal, the canal doesn't flow at all and we have a terrible mosquito problem now that they aren't fixing what they've said they would.

"On the Mill Creek side you have turtles that used to come on this side too, but with the grass and bamboo clogging and blocking the canal flow they have no way to get here and I haven't seen any in a long time. Also, a lot of people used to go on nature walks and hike through here on the trail to follow the canal, but I haven't seen anyone in months.

"I'd like to ask Mr. Burgess again and Works & Engineering again when they are going to start on cleaning the canal up properly. I'd like to get an answer as to why this is going on if they are willing to tell me so I could understand why, but so far they have told me nothing even though I have asked."

Repeated Mid-Ocean News inquiries about the canal situation made to Government's Department of Communications & Information went unanswered.

The Pembroke Canal was created in 1837 when Governor John Henry Lefroy was able to convince Bermuda Legislature to allocate monies to improve the frequently flooding Pembroke Marsh.

Up until the 1950s the Pembroke Canal was picturesque and full of wildlife and was even featured on a number of Bermuda postcards, the most famous being a postcard from 1943 that became part of the Bermuda Archives Postcard Collection. The picture on the postcard showed a beautiful canal with clear, blue water, and pink sand reflecting the spire from the Anglican Cathedral in Hamilton. The canal was an area that people would relax, go for a walk and go swimming and fishing in.

The canal changed as development grew and the Pembroke Dump was put in the area. Run-off from the roads which were now newly being heavily inundated with cars and trucks and contaminants leeching into the water from the dump turned the pristine canal into something reminiscent of a sewer line.

The clear water turned to a slimy green and the white sands and abundant fish and wildlife in the area became a memory of youth grown old.