just residents of Pembroke West Central, Independent MP Mr. Stuart Hayward said.

Mr. Hayward was responding to the Bermuda Electric Light Co. Ltd.'s suggestion that meeting new regulations to the Clean Air Act could cause the price of electricity to jump.

"The costs of taking care of environmental damage are going to be borne by the broader community -- that seems to me to be correct,'' Mr. Hayward said.

Until now, residents around the Serpentine Road plant in the constituency he represents have been paying through soot on their laundry, homes, and other possessions, as well as structural damage from vibrations, and aggravation of health problems from polluted air, Mr. Hayward said.

While the cost of electricity is high relative to other countries, it is still cheap in consumer terms, he said. "There are costs incurred in the production of electricity that have to be paid at some time,'' he said. "It's better that these costs be shared around and that people understand the real costs that consuming electricity cause.

"If electricity costs are too high, then people have a choice,'' he said.

"Either they charge more for their services, or they consume less electricity.'' Mr. Hayward also questioned the timing of Environment Minister the Hon. Ann Cartwright DeCouto's toughening of the Clean Air Act.

The law was promised since 1989, and he has been pressing for change since then, he said. "Only now, as the election approaches, is the Minister finally bringing the last stages of the legislation to Parliament.'' As for assurances the regulations will be tougher than US Environmental Protection Agency standards, Mr. Hayward said they should be. "The EPA standards were designed for a country that already had an enormous quantity of pollution,'' he said.

"The regulations need to be strict, because we're starting from a relatively pristine condition.'' Mr. Stuart Hayward MP.