yesterday had environmentalists fuming and at least two Government Ministries pointing fingers at each other.

The slick, which Police said was approximately 30 yards wide by 500 feet long, was spotted by Pembroke resident Mr. Curtis Dawson as he drove along the South Shore at around 11 a.m.

He said the slick was about 30 to 40 yards off the Sonesta Beach Hotel and was circular in shape.

"It was obvious that it was either oil or raw sewage,'' Mr. Curtis told The Royal Gazette . "An hour later I noticed that it was elongated and had stretched to the outside of the shallow reef. It was about 50 yards offshore.'' The source of the slick was later traced to the hotel after Marine Police were called in to investigate.

"Apparently Sonesta Beach was dumping sewage overboard,'' Police spokeswoman Insp. Roseanda Jones said. "We contacted the Works and Engineering Ministry and were informed by (Government hydrogeologist) Mark Rowe that they had permission to do that.'' Insp. Jones added that samples the Police had gathered from the

3 Sewage slick worries passerby slick had been deemed "unnecessary'' because the permission that had been granted.

Last night, however, Works and Engineering Minister the Hon. Leonard Gibbons denied any knowledge of the affair and directed any inquiries to the Environment Ministry.

"I don't know anything about it,'' he said. "We (at Works and Engineering) wouldn't have the right to grant permission.'' Earlier, Mr. Dawson said that officials at the Environment Ministry claimed that they too lacked the authority to sanction any dumping.

When Mr. Gibbons was informed that the Police had been informed by Mr. Rowe of his Ministry's involvement, he said that he knew Mr. Rowe and would look into the matter today.

Mr. Rowe was unavailable for comment last night.

In the meantime, Mr. Dawson expressed outrage that any Government Ministry would allow raw sewage to be dumped along the South Shore.

"They don't call it the Gold Coast for nothing,'' he said. "This is how we make our money. It's just a stone's throw away from Horseshoe Bay.'' Mr. David Boyd, general manager of the Sonesta Beach Hotel, said last night that he was personally unaware of any slick off the South Shore, although he did admit that the hotel was currently undergoing sewage treatment.

"I do know that we had our annual sewage treatment this week,'' Mr. Boyd told The Gazette . "If that's created something, it hasn't been brought to my attention.'' But Mr. Dawson said that someone at the hotel, which has been closed for renovations since November, must have known about it.

"You would think that someone in the tourist business would have more respect for the niceties of the country they are selling,'' he said. "In the United States they would have had to install some sort of sewage treatment equipment.

They're getting off easy here.'' Mr. Dawson added that Agriculture and Fisheries director Dr. James Burnett-Herkes told him in a telephone conversation yesterday that the laying of charges against Sonesta might be in order.

Dr. Burnett-Herkes could not be reached for comment last night.

Mr. Dawson said that the slick would likely be visible again at slack tide today.