as soon as next February, Works and Engineering Minister the Hon. Clarence Terceira told a forum last night.

He also revealed Government was considering taking over the US Naval Annex rubbish dump if it closes down.

The dump-site would be used for the storage of recyclables and other waste that will not be going into the incinerator, he said.

"We are also looking at it as a possible composting site,'' Dr. Terceira said, noting that enough soil was needed to cover the 30-acre Pembroke Dump -- to be turned into a park once the incinerator is in operation.

Dr. Terceira was responding to questions from the roughly 40 people who attended the forum, put on by the United Bermuda Party Devonshire South branch at Elliott School hall.

Topics for discussion were "The Tower is Up -- What's Next'' and "Is once-a-week Collection Enough?''.

The general consensus was that the new once-a-week-only garbage collection was enough. One Devonshire South resident pointed out the reduced service was serving to encourage people to cut down on what they throw out.

But there were many concerns about the incinerator and noise pollution at the Devon Springs recycling plant.

Dr. Terceira said Ministry staff were looking at ways of muffling the noise coming from the can and glass crushers. Insulating the sheds was one method being explored, he said.

Unfortunately, he said, the site was the only suitable one currently available.

After hearing that broken glass and other trash was getting into the road, Dr.

Terceira promised to have his staff address the problem.

Despite suggestions to make the 71-metre-high incinerator stack less of an eyesore by disguising it as a lighthouse -- or even a totem pole, Dr. Terceira said Government was sticking to plans to paint it sky blue.

He added his Ministry had considered the lighthouse idea -- and also a suggestion by an eight-year-old to make the tower look like a palm tree.

Addressing concerns about what would happen if "the wrong things'' got into the incinerator, Dr. Terceira said the only waste item with the potential to cause serious problems was glass.

However, if too much molten glass did get into the incinerator it would only cause mechanical problems.

Other hazardous products such as batteries would be destroyed in the heat, he said, adding garbage to be put into the incinerator would be inspected regularly.

No soot would be emitted from the stack and there would be no smells.

And even with recycling, Dr. Terceira said the Island would produce enough garbage to keep it going. It was capable of burning 100,000 tons of garbage a year. Bermuda currently produces about 40,000 tons of household garbage.