Puddle.

Area residents have been hospitalised because of the fumes from the burning, according to Derrick Burgess.

And the Hamilton Parish East MP is calling for a stop to all burning and blasting in the area until an investigation is conducted into the matter.

Mr. Burgess said he received complaints about the acrid burning smell in the area more than a month ago.

Apparently the fumes and smoke were so bad that several children were taken to the hospital and asthmatics had suffered respiratory problems.

Mr. Burgess said he called the Health and Safety officer, but received no report on the matter.

He assumed the situation had been resolved until he received more calls and got a whiff of the problem himself.

And now Mr. Burgess is calling for a full-scale investigation.

"The blasting and burning must be stopped until there's an investigation as to how it's affecting the houses in that area,'' said Mr. Burgess.

"I plan to speak to the Ministry, because that's gotta stop,'' he added.

POLITICS PTL HEALTH HTH