THE EDITOR, Sir:

WHEN YOU drive through Sterling Castle in Red Hills, you will notice the pipe trench the National Water Commission (NWC) dug up over two months ago, just past the only part of the road that the National Works Agency contractor didn't fix when doing an otherwise good job on the road.

The NWC also allows a virtual Dunn's River Falls to run each morning from their Sterling Castle tank, and the car wash from the (locked off) standpipe in the square threatens the good road.

One theory is that busy local gunmen in our community threaten those who would repair the road or control the waste of water, along with terrorising all the households. Unfortunately, they use the footpaths where the police cannot drive, and now operate morning, noon and night.

I'm not asking that we go back 40 years when you could leave your house open, but would askfor a leadership that recognises that things are going from bad to worse. If they do that, maybe we could have a plan to reverse the trend.

I am, etc.,

STEPHEN HODGES

carphen@cwjamaica.com

P.O. Box 597, Kingston 10