Cochrane Road, Sandys residents said the West End Development Company (Wedco) is a terrible landlord for letting people live in homes that smell like sewage, where windows fall out and outside walls have not been painted for years.

?When I first moved into this place right here, when these five houses flushed their toilets it came up my tub, ? long-time Cochrane Road resident Floyd Burchall said on Thursday. ?It chased everyone out of the house.?

Mr. Burchall said a plumber fixed the piping problem but Wedco tried to send him the bill.

The residents say Wedco is contractually responsible for fixing plumbing and flooring problems as well as maintaining the outside of the homes but the quango is not doing the work.

Wedco?s Business Development Manager Edward Williams said it simply cannot afford to fix up the homes based on the current rents.

?Many of these places are very old and the cost to do the ultimate fixing far exceeds the rental income,? Mr. Williams said.

He said many of the homes have ?tremendous issues? and trying to maintain them is an ?exhausting exercise?.

?Rent adjustments are taking place just like anywhere else on the Island,? Mr. Williams said. ?The tenants have been notified. If tenants have grievances when these processes are put in place, they can address us if they have a problem.

?We are addressing the matter. Tenants can address us if there is a problem with a premises and our maintenance department addresses it.

?Why the matter is being discussed with the Press, I do not know. Wedco is dealing with the matter like we would with any other tenant.

?There is nothing different with this tenant.?

But 43-year-old Cochrane Road resident Keith Braemar said he has to keep his home?s sliding door closed because of the stench from an old cesspit.

To make matters worse, he said his windows are falling out and his mother is ashamed to have her friends over at the house because of the smell.

He said he took his complaints to Wedco for over ten years but nothing has been done.

?They can never say we have not paid any rent.? he said. ?I am a third generation of my people that?s been staying out this way. We have never complained about the rent. But now it?s time to be fixed.?

?Wedco needs to be accountable for the total disregard to their important obligation to maintain the houses,? tenant Carla Crockwell added.

?We have communicated with the landlord and find it unfortunate they are not supplying prompt response to a normal repair situation.?

She was informed of the rent increase by a letter from the Rent Commission in January.

?Wedco raised the annual rental value (ARV) of the property from $15,000 to $24,000 linking it to the Rent Commission, however, the Rent Commission is not responsible for maintaining properties,? she said.

Mr. Braemar said the higher rent would not be a problem if the maintenance work was getting done.

?We don?t mind the rent going up but it is going up whereas they are doing absolutely nothing, you understand?? Mr. Braemar said.

Ms Crockwell said maintenance on her home included reinstalling old fixtures rather than replacing them with new parts.

Repairs from Hurricane Fabian still had not been completed, she said.

?I was told the only way we can get our homes renovated was if we were moving out,? Ms Crockwell said. ?You don?t pay rent monthly to get renovations after we leave the unit.

?We are all dissatisfied with Wedco and have been for many years. They have a list of enormous repairs but no one has seen a maintenance schedule.?

Ms Crockwell took Wedco to court in December 2000 when she made an application to withhold rent because her home was not fully maintained.

After withholding her rent, a Magistrate ordered her to pay Wedco, after they said they would carry out essential maintenance.

?I was asked to pay rent because they said they would do the work but they only fixed the bathroom and left out the floors windows and cupboards,? she said.

?The maintenance was not complete. The exterior of the house has not painted since the early 1990s.?

Last week, she took Wedco to court again, asking for reimbursement for maintenance on the property she paid for herself, however, this case has not yet been settled.

Wedco General Manager Lloyd Telford said: ?We routinely do not comment on matters before the court.?