"This is throwing the gauntlet down. Does he think we're just a little banana republic to come here and talk like this?'' -- Mrs. Lois Browne Evans on the Canadian owner of the Pink Beach hotel.

"This newspaper should be kept for historical purposes.'' -- Mrs. Lois Browne Evans, referring to yesterday's Royal Gazette stories on Bermuda's troubled hotel scene.

"I have never known such discourtesy.'' -- The Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan after the speaker the Hon. David Wilkinson abrubtly adjourned the House before he could speak.

"Government would do well to stop politicising the issue.'' -- Mr. Julian Hall, being non-political on the Victor Scott School composting controversy.

Garbage and the composting operation at the foot of Pembroke Dump yesterday dominated the Motion to Adjourn in the House of Assembly for the second week running.

MPs clashed over Government's decision to use the field opposite Victor Scott School as a compost dump.

In a bid to prove the piles of vegetation and cardboard bits were not producing any smells or harbouring bugs and rats, Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan and Works Minister the Hon. Clarence Terceira brought a bag of the compost to Parliament, placing it on the table of the House for all to smell and inspect.

Shadow Health Minister Mr. Nelson Bascome repeated statements he made to The Royal Gazette on Thursday that the operation was damaging the ecology of the area and one of the Island's major water lenses.

He pointed to Government reports warning of the vulnerability of Glebe Field and that any more weight in the area would harm the peat layer protecting the water lens.

Responding to Dr. Terceira's claim the compost being dumped at the site was too lightweight to affect the peat layer, Mr. Bascome said the Minister was not taking into account the compost's weight when it was wet.

He added: "When the composting machines roll, dust is thrown into the atmosphere and you'll see mice and roaches go scattering.'' Mr. Bascome said he was particularly upset that Government had "rammed the compost dump down the throats of Pembroke East constituents with no fair warning''.

He said it was not true the Victor Scott principal and PTA had no problem with the operation.

"Obviously there has been some twisting of words,'' he said, referring to Dr.

Terceira's claim the PTA and principal had told him they were not bothered by the composting operation and were saddened the issue had been politicised.

Environment Minister the Hon. Ann Cartwright DeCouto "categorically denied'' the dumping of compost at Glebe Field was damaging the ecology or underlying water lens.

If anything, she said, it enhanced the ecology by acting as a buffer in preventing harmful substances from Pembroke Dump getting into the lens.

"It is no threat at all,'' she said, pointing out peat was, in part, made up of compost.

Mr. David Allen PLP MP for Pembroke East Central, charged that Sir John's second walkabout of the compost dump this week was nothing more than a photo opportunity to put right his comments following his first visit.

"Something hit the fan,'' he said. "Because there was a hasty rewrite by his PR people.'' Mr. Allen was referring to Sir John admitting, on his first visit, there was a smell, and then after his second visit, denying there was any smell at all.

Mr. Allen said the people of Pembroke East had suffered so long there was "a good case to be made for reparation''.

"The compost dump was one more bit of abuse heaped onto them,'' he said. Dr.

Terceira said other areas, including the airport and Sallyport dumps were being looked at as possible composting sites.

He stood by his claim that the Victor Scott PTA was upset the issue had been politicised and that the school had no real problem with the composting operation.

He added: "If the incinerator had not been delayed, through opposition, we wouldn't be having this problem at the moment. We would be producing a nice green park.'' Shadow Environment Minister Mr. Julian Hall pointed to a comment made a few months ago in the media by Government waste manager Mr. Dan Hoornweg that the compost site should be located away from residential areas.

"But Government has placed the compost dump in the most densely-populated area of all of Bermuda,'' he said.

Mr. Hall dismissed Sir John's bag of compost on the table of the House as nothing more than "political gimmickry''. "Government would do well to stop politicising the issue,'' he said.

Finance Minister the Hon. David Saul , changing the subject, said the result of the US presidential election had set the stage for world recovery.

He announced that in preparing for the 1993/94 budget, provisions had been made for some "prudent borrowing'' for capital works, including the incinerator, new prison and education reforms. But Government was sticking by its plan never to borrow for current account expenditure -- the everyday costs of running Government programmes.

Dr. Saul told MPs that US banks were lending Bermuda money only because of their "confidence and faith in the UBP Government's management of the Island's economy''.

"We have no resources such as gold or bananas,'' he pointed out. Dr. Saul doubted banks would be so willing to lend money to Bermuda if a PLP government was in power.

Opposition leader Mr. Frederick Wade moved to make it clear the PLP would remain "on election watch'' through to February, 1994.

He said it was the PLP's readiness and performance these past few months that caused Government "to withdraw its intention to hold an election in November''.

He implied the light schedule of Parliament, which was causing it to adjourn a week early, was proof the UBP had planned to call an election.

Health Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness said the PLP's constant election predictions were causing people to put off business and delay decisions.

Government would give fair warning of an election, he said.

"Mr. Wade is wrong. The Government has never been so busy dealing with all kinds of issues.'' Referring to Mr. Bascome's comments about compost operations at the dump causing possible damage to the water lens, he said the 1987 Pembroke Marsh Plan warned against "buried refuse'' -- pulverised material, not compost. The plan stated that compost could also have an ability to act as a protective membrane.

"There may very well be reasons why the composting operation should not be placed where it is. But we all know why we need compost material, to be able to finish off the park site, and it would be in our best interests and less costly if the composting operation can be on the site itself.'' Technical advice should be sought, he said. "Let's find out what the accuracy of the danger of a composting operation would be on this site, because the indication in this document is that compost does not pose a threat to the water lens.'' Independent MP Mr. Stuart Hayward denied Government claims that he was responsible for delaying the Tynes Bay incinerator. The Government and its minister should share any blame for delaying it, he said.

He asked Government to build bridges with environmentalists, who had often been proved right, and not to castigate them and make them scapegoats.

He said Mr. Edness, then Works Minister, had been "chided'' by the DAB for delays. Mr. Edness had also delayed a meeting on the project.

Government had gone into the hearings on the incinerator unprepared and had given an inept presentation.

Ministers had rejected composting and recycling when first planning the incinerator, but had now been converted. It was even using recycling machinery from a company first brought to the Island by environmentalists.

Composting was a good idea, but the present "furore'' existed because Government had not involved residents in the decision-making process or kept them informed.

Mr. Reginald Burrows (PLP) said: "If we had got into a proper recycling and composting programme long before we embarked on construction of this incinerator, we probably could have built an incinerator of half the size.'' Now Government was finding there were other ways of disposing of garbage, and planners would have to go back to the drawing board to find a way of keeping the incinerator going at full capacity.

"Since we're going to be recycling just about everything, one wonders what's going into this incinerator.'' Turning to pack racing, he recalled the first motor-assisted cycles could only do about 20 mph. But then, because of the "greed of a lot of our merchants'', some of whom were MPs, laws were passed to permit much faster machines.

"We bring in these cycles that can do excessive speeds and sell them to these youngsters and then we expect them to keep within the speed limit.'' He recalled that providing a scrambling track had eased the problem of scrambling on dunes. "We hope that since Government allows these cycles into Bermuda and allows them to be used, that they will find a track somewhere where young people can go and use their cycles and won't have to be harassed by the Police.'' He said he did not condone stealing, but many cycle thefts happened because merchants brought in cycles and did not stock the parts.

Mrs. Grace Bell (UBP) complimented Agriculture Department workers, especially Bermudians, for their work. She praised apprentice schemes, particularly the one at that department which had been withdrawn.

"That's one programme that needs to be resurrected in the very near future.

We should aspire to train people who are interested in the trade.'' On pack racing, she said it was a cop out to say young people did not have a track. "Speaking to the young people that do like to pack race, it's my humble opinion that having a track is not going to prevent some of them from racing on the roads. They want to race on the long stretches of road.'' The problem was not with the types of machines, she said, because youngsters could make their cycles faster. But she had a problem with "souping-up'' kits being allowed into the Island.

Mrs. Lois Browne Evans (PLP) said the sadness of labour relations in Bermuda should have prompted Government to deal with the subject rather than spend time talking about a bag of compost.

Mrs. Browne Evans accused Pink Beach of contravening human rights by withdrawing recognition of the BIU.

She said the move was unacceptable, and called on Labour Minister the Hon.

Irving Pearman to make a statement on the issue.

Mrs. Browne Evans, brandishing a copy of The Royal Gazette , also highlighted a front page story on the alleged firing of PLP candidate and chief shop steward at Marriott Castle Harbour, Mr. George Scott, for political reasons.

She said Mr. Scott seemed to be a victim of an apparent "overall plan to get rid of the hierarchy of the union.'' PLP candidates regularly had their reputations besmirched, she added.

Mrs. Browne Evans spoke of a conspiracy by Government supporters to "pull down'' Opposition members.

Both Royal Gazette stories -- on Pink Beach and Mr. Scott -- signalled a "sad day'' in Bermuda's history.

"This newspaper should be kept for historical purposes,'' she said.

Transport Minister the Hon. Ralph Marshall said plans were still rolling forward to turn Pembroke dump into a national park.

There had been delays -- but he was not going to point the finger of blame.

Mr. Marshall said Pembroke was not the only parish to suffer from smell problems.

He went on to defend the Tynes Bay incinerator project, saying it had been chosen after much thought as the best way of dealing with the Island's trash.

Land reclamation, meanwhile, had been put on the "back burner.'' "We made the right decision,'' he said.

Mr. Marshall then focused on motorbikes, urging parents and teachers to warn youngsters against pack racing and "tinkering'' with their machines to make them more powerful.

He added Government was considering allowing higher CCs for motorbikes.

Mr. Ottiwell Simmons (PLP), BIU president, said he had received complaints about the new one-day garbage collection service.

This was inadequate, and had led to an increase in litter on the streets.

"The streets are dirtier now than I have ever seen them.'' Mr. Simmons asked why the collection of recyclables had been privatised, saying it had led to workers to fear for their jobs.

He went on to accuse Government and employers of a conspiracy against the working class in Bermuda, claiming he had confidential documents to prove it.

Mr. Simmons attacked Pink Beach's decision not to recognise the BIU, and also revealed the chief shop steward at Sonesta Beach had been dismissed.

At this point, he was warned by the speaker the Hon. David Wilkinson that it flouted parliamentary rules for him, as BIU president, to speak on matters he had an professional interest in.

Labour Minister the Hon. Irving Pearman dismissed accusations of a conspiracy by Government.

He said the BIU had recourse to the courts if dissatisfied with an employer.