environment, the House of Assembly was told yesterday.

The warning came from Shadow Environment Minister Rev. Trevor Woolridge while the House debated estimates for the Environment Ministry in committee of supply.

The controversial waste incinerator on Devonshire's north shore is slated to be fired up this year.

Mr. Woolridge said he hoped the Environment Ministry would have enough inspectors to ensure that the incinerator, other utilities, and "whatever else in this Country can pollute the air'', at least comply with the Clean Air Act 1992.

"The Government has given us statements time and time again about the fact that we don't need to be overly concerned,'' Mr. Woolridge said.

"It's also important for them to know and to understand that they will certainly be held accountable if what they have said to us proves not to be true.

"We are talking about people's lives in this regard,'' he said. "Equally important is our economy, and how tourism affects us.'' Earlier, Education Minister the Hon. Clarence Terceira told how extra money was set aside in the Budget to pay for air and water monitoring by the Bermuda Biological Station for Research, and other expenses related to incinerator testing.

Dr. Terceira, who was the Ministry spokesman because Environment Minister the Hon. Gerald Simons sits in the Senate, said $451,000 was granted for the Bio-Station research.

The main monitoring station was at Prospect. There would also be mobile monitoring, privately-funded testing at Tudor Hill, and jointly-funded testing at St. David's, he said.

Stack emissions of dioxins, furans, hydrocarbons, particularate, metals like arsenic, lead, zinc, and nickel, and hydrochloric acid would be among those tested for.

He noted the monitoring was required not only under the Clean Air Act, but by the Development Applications Board when it gave approval to the incinerator.

Four highly-qualified scientists, led by Dr. Robert Carney of Louisiana State University, would continue to assist with "the ongoing research,'' Dr.

Terceira said.

A sum of $72,000 set aside for professional and special services reflected the cost of stack monitoring, he said.

Overall, spending on the Ministry was up by $968,000, or eight percent, over last year.

Dr. Terceira said the Ministry's budget had suffered cuts in recent years, and "there is no doubt that this has affected the level of service to the public''.

An Environmental Authority had been set up under the Clean Air Act, and controlled plants would have to apply to be licensed by the end of March.

The Ministry would work with Works and Engineering and private industry in launching a "national energy strategy'' conservation plan for Bermuda, Dr.

Terceira said.

"Effective efforts to reduce energy consumption will delay, of course, any further building by Belco.'' An oil burning experiment proposed off the Island by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration would be "a great benefit to Bermuda'', especially if a large oil tanker ever crashed on the reef.

There would be strict conditions to ensure safety, he said.

But Mr. Woolridge (PLP) said his party continued to oppose the experiment. Its value was not questioned, but it should be conducted elsewhere, he said.

The work would be done during hurricane season in August or September, and "I am concerned that the risk to Bermuda and her fragile environment is greater than anything else we should consider''.

In the Planning Department, the $526,000 budgeted for forward planning related mainly to the Bermuda Plan '92, Dr. Terceira said. To date, 1,166 objections to the plan had been processed, with 76 percent resolved to the satisfaction of the objector and 159 referred to a tribunal for a hearing.

Parliament had granted a six-month time extension to allow the objections to be heard, and the amended plan would be submitted to the House before the July 2 deadline.

Also under forward planning, the City of Hamilton Plan '94 would be reviewed and the need for a traffic and transportation plan examined. A comprehensive list of land recommended for Government acquisition would be drawn up, as would another list of buildings with historical or architectural merit.

The number of applications handled by the Development Applications Board dropped by ten percent, but a new "fast tracking'' system meant they were dealt with more quickly.

A third of all applications were dealt with in four weeks, compared to ten percent in 1992.

The building control department issued 1,147 building permits last year for construction worth more than $300 million. That marked a 15 percent increase over 1992.

This year, a one-day permit for minor works would be introduced, Dr. Terceira said.

Moving to Agriculture, Fisheries & Parks, Dr. Terceira noted that there was a Bermudian veterinarian understudying the Government vet for the first time in years.

Mr. Woolridge said the hiring of Dr.

Susann Smith as a veterinarian was a Ministry highlight.

He understood Dr. Smith was trying to help prisoners and other disadvantaged people learn about agriculture, which he welcomed.

Dr. Terceira paid special tribute to the lifeguard service which operates from May to October. Last year, lifeguards made 43 rescues and administered six major and 126 minor cases of first aid.

On September 19, seven people got in trouble at a South Shore beach and they probably would have all drowned without the help of lifeguards.

Land valuation was "a small office with major responsibility'', he said.

Costs had dropped last year because of staff losses, but a backlog had also resulted, he said.

For that reason, Dr. Terceira yesterday introduced a bill to delay until next year the land revaluation which happens every five years and was scheduled for this year.

Land taxes raised $21.5 million, while valuation cost only $398,000, making it "a very cost-effective programme and department.'' On the Wilkinson Trust Quarry in Hamilton Parish, Dr. Terceira said Government would hold a meeting with objectors to the quarry expansion. A cave diver had taken another look at Admiral's Cave and would match his findings against the land survey to assure the quarry did not encroach on the cave.

Mr. Woolridge said Bermuda's isolation and limited space meant the environment should not be looked after through "crisis management.'' He wondered aloud how Government could identify the objectors to the quarry expansion, "since they've had no official meeting for the public to lodge objections''.

The only public meeting held about the quarry expansion was organised by himself and the PLP's Ms Renee Webb , he said.

"That piece of land should not be destroyed,'' Mr. Woolridge said. "It is desecration.'' While he commended parks staff for work on Blue Hole Hill Park, he said Shelly Bay Park was hurt by recent developments there. Area residents who used to gather there would find it "somewhat difficult to enjoy themselves now, with all of those monkey bars and the like''.

The beach at Shelly Bay was not cleaned as well as others, he added. Rather than further development at Mullet Bay Park in St. George's, which would hamper the cricket club, Alexandra's Battery Hill should be considered.

Mr. Woolridge asked who was policing the seven Canadian longline fishing vessels in Bermuda.

And he questioned why only 14 Bermudians had a chance to work on the boats.

There were 140 Bermudians in the fishing industry. "What about the others?'' he asked. Was Government saying they were all doing well? "I don't think so.'' Mrs. Ann Cartwright DeCouto (UBP), a former Environment Minister, said she was "a little disappointed'' in Mr. Woolridge and the PLP.

The environment was only mentioned in two paragraphs on the second-last page of the Budget Reply, and the Opposition only set aside two and a half hours out of 40 to debate the Environment estimates.

Regarding the number of Bermudians employed on the Canadian fishing vessels, "we have not even been able to fill those 14 places, because of the lack of interest in the local fishing community'', Mrs. Cartwright DeCouto said.

"They obviously must be doing alright.'' The Canadian ships were policed by fisheries officers who went out on the boats and inspected their holds and logs, she said.

Having recently resigned her Delegated Affairs portfolio over the Independence issue, Mrs. Cartwright DeCouto said: "I'd like to say something from the freedom of the back bench.

"I have become very concerned of late with the rising number of feral, i.e.

wild cats that don't belong to anybody.'' Volunteers tried to trap cats, but that was "a drop in the bucket'', she said, and Government should deal with them like they dealt with wild dogs.

She was aware of a recent case in which someone left a car window open and returned to find three wild cats inside the car, "having despoiled it.

"We really can't allow this problem to continue unchecked.'' Ms Jennifer Smith (PLP) said she agreed with Mrs. Cartwright DeCouto and felt wild chickens were a growing problem as well.

The Environment Ministry estimates were then passed without objection.

Ministry of Environment, 1994/95 estimates Ministry responsibility: "To regulate the development of land, to protect the Bermuda environment, to provide for the valuation of land, and to promote the development of agriculture and fisheries in Bermuda, and in so doing promote wise use of land and effective management of agricultural, fisheries and parks resources.'' Budget estimate $12,423,000 (last year $11,351,000) Budget allocation Department of Planning $1,935,000 Agriculture, Fisheries & Parks $9,148,000 Land valuation $398,000 Ministry headquarters $942,000 Revenues $1,253,000.