that has become a dumping ground.

The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said dumpsters at the wharf on the former US baselands were overflowing with trash which had been building up for weeks.

He said: "I called the man in charge and he said he had heard all about it, and that people from St. David's have been dumping trash at the site.'' The man said that after he complained to the Bermuda Land Development Company (BLDC), more than a week went by and nothing happened. After a second call the trash was removed, as were the bins containing the trash.

However, no sooner had the trash been removed, than it started to build up again.

Trash outrages resident The tenant said: "Rats, rodents, stink, flies -- it is just disgusting.'' He added: "There are at least 30 or 40 car batteries on top of the pile which is eight to ten feet high, 20 feet deep and 20 feet wide. It is unsafe and unhealthy.'' BLDC facilities manager Rudy Daniels said part of the problem stemmed from local residents.

"People are taking their household waste and putting it on the pile at the wharf.'' He added that the BLDC faced a dilemma and had discussed many ways to deal with the problem.

"We are in talks with Works and Engineering to get it incorporated in to their route.'' He said the BLDC monitored and dealt with the problem every week.

Hunt's Sanitation and Excavating Service owns the bins and is charged with the disposal of the trash but it cannot stay on top of it on a week to week basis.

One of the solutions to try and stop members of the public from dumping their trash was to remove the bins, said Mr. Daniels.

However the residents simply dumped their trash in another area or piled it up where the bins used to be.

"Once they started, they continued,'' he said.

Mr. Daniels said the BLDC wanted to stop the dumping in the most cost-effective way.

A primary concern was security, he said, but companies in the area would have to help with the bill.

Hunt's Sanitation and Excavating Service spokesman Michael Johnston said: "We have been having difficulties in that location.

"The bins should be just for shop owners, but no-one polices these things.

"There were two bins for separate wastes, one for metal and one for wood, but they were being filled with all sorts.

"The bins are not there at the moment. They were pulled as we could not deal with the mix,'' said Mr. Johnston.

When asked about the details of Hunt's contract with the BLDC, he said there was no formal contract.

He said: "They needed some bins for the tenants to clean up the area down there. We provided them but they were too mixed so they were removed. That is my understanding.''