Illness has forced a local businessman to put a family company he has owned for 40 years up for sale.

Joseph DeSilva said he is selling Island Wide Plumbing and Electric because an undiagnosed medical problem which has prevented him from working.

Mr. DeSilva, 73, has decades of experience in the plumbing and electrical trade, went into business with his brother when an opportunity came up when the Government started work on the old opera house.

"It's not hard to run the business as long as you can do the work and if you know what you're doing," he said. "I just hope someone (like me) buys my business."

Mr. DeSilva was working for Belco at the time and when he joined the business the name was changed from Island Wide Plumbing to Island Wide Plumbing and Electric.

He said he has worked hard and the business has become a success and one of the best-known companies on the Island.

Mr. DeSilva runs the company alone, but regrets having to sell the business after owning it for such a long time.

"If I wasn't sick I wouldn't get rid of it that's for sure because it's a nice gravy train," he said.

The company has always been busy because of advertising and reasonable prices, he said.

And the savvy businessman hopes the business stays that way because he plans to sell it for a "reasonable price".

"I'm not asking for a lot of money, not asking for $100,000 or $60,000," he said.

The business will be sold with all of its equipment and the company van.

And the man who could fix electrical and plumbing problems said he hoped the person who bought the business could carry on helping his customers and keeping the business going.

Mr. DeSilva said his illness has forced him to stop work and is now looking for someone to take it over as a going concern. He said he has a leak in his kidneys and that his lungs are "gone".

"I can't even pick up anything off the floor without running short of breath... what's the sense of me keeping my business?" he said.

The Pembroke resident is still trying to find the cause of his ailments and on Monday underwent an MRI - which he compared to guerrilla warfare.

"It sounds like you're down in Vietnam when the machine goes. It sounds like someone shooting bullets at you," he said.