Some contentious questions were put by senators yesterday as they sat for the first session of 1993, which lasted only through the morning.

The Grotto Bay Hotel's hiring and firing practices came under fire from Opposition leader in the Senate Sen. Alex Scott . And PLP spokesman for Works and Engineering Sen. Ira Philip raised concerns over Government's reduced garbage collection services.

Sen. Philip wanted to know whether Government was "setting the stage'' for privatising garbage collection by slashing it to once a week.

And Sen. Scott claimed it was his information that a contract worker at the Grotto Bay Hotel had called fellow staff members "niggers'', and that Bermudians at the hotel, which no longer recognises the Bermuda Industrial Union, were being replaced by non-Bermudians.

He asked: "Will Government undertake to investigate allegations (set out in a letter to the Minister of Immigration) that at least two Bermudians have been removed from their posts (over the last three months) at the Grotto Bay Hotel (both Bermudians) reportedly to be replaced by the same contract worker; and the staff are powerless to be heard in light of the fact that the hotel refuses to acknowledge workers' rights by their (the hotel's) non recognition of the BIU? "And will Government undertake to investigate allegations (set out in a letter to the Minister of Immigration) that a contract worker used a "reprehensible'' racial slur when he allegedly declared that he was going to have all the "niggers'' in the dining room replaced by his friends from overseas?'' He requested Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Labour Sen. Maxwell Burgess (UBP) provide answers to the questions at next Wednesday's sitting.

Sen. Philip asked: "In view of growing public dissatisfaction over current garbage collection services, will Government reveal to what extent, if any, it has considered the privatisation of its garbage collection service in the near or distant future.

"If Government is not setting the stage for privatisation by its reduction of the previous twice weekly collection to once weekly, its suspension of the weekly bulky trash collection, and its suspension of the annual regional collection of bulky trash, would Government spell out plans it has for an early amelioration of these matters? "And is it a fact the amount of garbage (blue bags) collected from the roadsides during the past month is decreasing or increasing, if so by how much per bag?'' SEN. ALEX SCOTT -- disturbed by hotel workers' lack of representation.