By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

DESPITE assurances by officials in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, a small group of concerned citizens is launching a formal complaint over the conditions at the South Beach Pools facility.

Irate readers of a recent article in The Tribune, which indicated that faulty machinery at the site was scheduled to be repaired, returning the facility to its regular schedule of operations, allege a culture of mismanagement and a lack of maintenance that had allowed the pools - used by both public and private entities - to fall into ruin.

One source familiar with the day-to-day running of the complex asking not to be identified said: “The whole atmosphere there is touchy at the moment. It has such possibility of being an excellent facility if (they) just finished (work) and a contract for pool upkeep - water quality be given to a private company as the staff has proven they cannot keep it up.”

The Tribune understands that the facility is plagued by lighting issues, “horrid” upkeep and the presence of a homeless man who has taken up residence in an abandoned trailer next to the complex off East Street South.

“The bathrooms have been a mess for months but, this fall, they apparently have transferred staff there and it is much improved. We do not know for sure if the heaters will be turned on this winter as we have not had their use in the past several winters. The light poles have rusted out at the bases and have mostly toppled over in storms over the past several years. They finally put caps on the open wires for our safety,” the source lamented.

“A problem also is the abandoned trailer which sits outside the pools. A homeless man has taken up residence for over three years now and plugs a frayed electrical cord into the female bathroom wall outlet, which is a hazard to a wet swimmer entering that bathroom ... he scares the kids as he has walked in on them and the bathroom cubicles have no working locks. They have installed all new pumps this spring and the overhead lighting is still to be completed. We hope that will be done before time changes and it gets dark earlier come December. The seating for persons waiting for swimmers are broken up and not acceptable. In rain, there is nowhere to go except the bathrooms.”

Further to these claims, officers from the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) recently moved into the office block and are said to work as the pseudo management team at the compound. Away from their presence there, lifeguards posted at the site have also, in the past, operated as pseudo management officers at the property. There are three pools at the complex - one for competition, one for children and one for general purpose, which has been closed for the summer.

The official management of the facility falls under the portfolio of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, which has not offered any official comment on the matter. However, a source has told The Tribune that “everything is being handled”.