Dump, said to have reached a new high in recent weeks.

But Works and Engineering Minister the Hon. Ann Cartwright DeCouto said she did not believe the odours were a health hazard to area residents.

A Pembroke woman claimed last week that she and her family had become more sickly since moving to Parson's Road. And Pembroke East MP Mr. Nelson Bascome said the smell had caused some people to "feel faint''.

Mrs. Cartwright DeCouto could not confirm the presence of any animal carcasses on the dump. But she said: "I wouldn't' think there had been any proliferation of them.'' She had been advised by technical officers that the odious smells coming from the dump were more of a "nuisance'' than a health risk.

Nevertheless, relief was on the way, she said.

The Minister admitted there was currently a shortage of material, such as excavated rubble, to cover the smelly garbage placed on the dump.

"Bermuda is only so large,'' she said. "But we are bringing forward a couple of roads projects which ought to result in more cover material being available.'' Mrs. Cartwright DeCouto added the problem was a "perennial one'', arising every summer because the heat made the smells worse.

But she said it would be the last summer residents living near the dump would have to put up with the stink.

"I recognise it is a nuisance, which is why we want to get the incinerator up and running as soon as possible and close the dump,'' she said.

She stressed Government still planned to turn the dump into a public park. The issue came to the forefront again last week after residents claimed the stink had reached a new high over the weekend.

Mr. Bascome, the Shadow Health Minister, said he feared the awful aroma could be a health risk to area residents.

"There is a lot of raw trash and animal carcasses being dumped there,'' he said. "The trash should be covered by sufficient material to reduce the smell but I have been told that there is not enough material to cover it. And there is not enough trash being pulverised.

"The smell at some times over the weekend was so bad it made some people feel faint.''