the Hon. Sir John Swan and Works and Engineering Minister the Hon. Clarence Terceira out in Pembroke Dump sniffing clods of decomposing vegetation. Their action was in response to complaints from two PLP MPs and demonstrated their concern for the residents of the Pembroke Dump area.

But what about the complaints? It seems to us that Pembroke East Central MPs Mr. David Allen and Mr. Stanley Morton made an enormous fuss about very little. Clearly they did not do their homework before they made the fuss and, unlike the Premier and Dr. Terceira, they did not go to the dump and sniff the air or, apparently, even take a good look. They appear to have grossly exaggerated the problem for political motives.

It is the job of MPs to look after the interests of their constituents.

However, it is not their job to exaggerate and to spread alarm and concern about very little. It is also not their job to cause trouble in an attempt to get votes because they think there may be an election approaching. Pembroke Dump does not need exaggeration.

The problems of Pembroke Dump have been bad enough and the residents in the area of the dump have had a long and trying time of fires, smoke, flies and smell. Now we see a permanent solution to the problem being built at Tynes Bay. Relief is in sight. Now, it seems to us, Mr. Morton and Mr. Allen can no longer claim that Government is doing nothing so they manufacture another hazard to alarm the residents.

This alarm follows closely on the suggestion in the House of Assembly by their fellow MP and Shadow Environment Minister Mr. Julian Hall that maybe the Tynes Bay incinerator, which is designed to solve the dump problems, should be abandoned before it is finished and that the PLP might not use the incinerator if it came to power.

It would seem clear the PLP MPs cannot both complain about the dump and suggest abandoning the incinerator without, at the very least, suggesting a viable solution to the incredible garbage problem. As it stands now, the PLP would abandon a multi-million dollar incinerator and continue to dump in Pembroke Marsh which cannot take very much more trash and which Government plans as Bermuda's biggest park.

This newspaper has some serious reservations about the incinerator and the operation of the incinerator. However we have to accept that the incinerator is the only viable solution and that Bermuda must make the very best use of it and ensure that as many safeguards as possible are in place and stay in place.

It seems to us that the PLP MPs could better use their time and better serve their voters by working on suggestions for safeguards and by producing a plan to ensure that the safeguards are put in place and operated properly. That would be a very constructive position for Opposition MPs.

Right now the position of these MPs is in limbo. They complain without proof and criticise without offering alternatives. The last thing anyone wants is to continue or prolong the life of Pembroke Dump.