The smell of Pembroke Dump raised a stink in the Senate yesterday with the Government and Opposition accusing each other of trivialising the issue.

PLP Senators have accused the Premier and the Minister of Works of ridiculing the people living near the waste disposal site.

But their constant interruptions infuriated Government senators, with Government Leader Sen. Michael Winfield accusing Sen. Trevor Woolridge of making "quick quips'' to disguise the fact that the PLP had no solution to the problem.

Sen. Ira Philip started the debate after reading the comments and seeing the picture of Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan and Minister of Works, the Hon.

Clarence Terceira in The Royal Gazette .

He said that the picture of the two ministers at the compost site near the dump was "a brazen display for the long suffering community of Pembroke East.

"It shows Bermuda's two top sniffers knee-deep in dirt bending over backwards, or forwards, to prove that the people who made these complaints are a bunch of crazies. I think an apology is owed to the people of Pembroke East.

"The Premier is reported as saying that he did not see as many flies as he was led to believe. How many flies did he in fact see?'' Sen. Philip said that the Premier did not need to go the area to see that flies, cockroaches and other vermin had been attracted by the garbage at Pembroke Marsh. He said that he should have taken more notice of local PLP MPs who had "done their homework'' in the area.

In defence of the Government Sen. Maxwell Burgess countered: "That is some of the biggest garbage I have heard for some time.'' Sen. Burgess pointed out recent PLP statements suggesting that work on the incinerator should be stopped while a review takes place of the possible problems that it could cause to the environment.

He said that while the PLP members in Pembroke East were calling for the closure of the refuse dump they could offer no alternative solution, like the incinerator.

Sen. Woolridge suggested that members of the community in Pembroke East followed the example of the Paget woman who recently took a bag of garbage, found in her front garden, to Dr. Terceira.

He said: "Do the residents of Pembroke want to carry their garbage to the Minister of Works and see if they get the same response as the woman in Paget? It seems that even in the 1990s there are two types of responses to the two different communities.

"People will no longer accept lame excuses. The Premier and the Minister do not have to endure the smell that the people complaining have to endure.'' Sen. Jerome Dill (UBP) defended the Government's incinerator works and read out a list of tests carried out already. He said: "It is obvious that the Pembroke Dump is a blight on the landscape of Bermuda. We are concerned about the squalor associated with Pembroke Dump and the action we can take -- the incinerator.'' But Sen. Dill found the going difficult because of constant interruptions by Sen. Woolridge. He said: "The wrong impression is being given by Sen.

Woolridge's nonsensical behaviour. On this very, very important subject what you are seeing is the Opposition trivialising the issue.'' Sen. Winfield added: "I have been listening with dismay to the interruptions and comments. Sen. Woolridge would rather play games than take matters seriously.

"He is making quick quips while this side of the table is trying to find solutions to the problems.

"The constant ridiculous comments from the Opposition do no service to the people of the country or the Opposition themselves.

"The Premier and Minister of Works took the issue extremely seriously and went to the dump to gauge the problem.'' Senate President, the Hon. Albert Jackson asked that members be allowed to speak without interruption on a number of occasions.

SEN.JEROME DILL -- complained about Sen. Woolridge's `nonsensical behaviour.'