A Bermuda courier office continues to avoid layoffs despite a decline in business sparked by the ten-day-old strike by UPS workers in the US.

Local UPS chief Eddie Lamb yesterday said he has managed to avert layoffs despite the drop in local volume.

And Mr. Lamb predicted that there would not be any layoffs for the next "couple of days'' due to the fact that a number of workers had taken their vacations.

Currently the Bermuda office, which staffs 12, is operating with a skeleton crew.

More than 180,000 of the 300,000-plus UPS workers in the US, all members of the Teamsters' Union, walked out a week ago (see story on page 14).

RENOVATIONS PLANNED PLN Renovations planned The Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo have issued a call for construction tenders for improved fish quarantine facilities.

BAMZ Curator Jack Ward yesterday told The Royal Gazette the aquarium is planning extensive renovations to an existing building adjacent to Harrington Sound.

Renovations will include excavation for a basement which will house various-sized fibreglass tanks ranging in size from 400 to 25 gallons.

At present all incoming fish are subjected to quarantine measures comprised of a series of freshwater baths given over a 30 day period. The process, said Mr.

Ward, is designed to break the life cycle of external parasites which attach themselves to the fish.

The expanded facility will continue with the "low-tech, non-chemical'' approach, but with the added improvement of a thermally-controlled environment, better lab space, and larger classrooms.

Renovations are expected to commence in October, with a projected completion date in the spring of next year. The Ministry of Works and Engineering will be overseeing the tender process.

Mr. Ward was unable to give a cost estimate of the project.

FIVE EYE KIOSK FLY Five eye kiosk The Department of Airport Operations has received five "expressions of interest'' from persons who want to run a small kiosk at the Bermuda International Airport.

Terminal manager Michael Osborn said that the next stage in the process would be for each applicant to submit their idea in a sealed envelope.

The deadline for this process is August 19. Soon afterward a decision will be made about which business will run the kiosk.

"Right now five persons have come along and picked up a request for proposal package but they have not given us any details.

"What will happen is that once their business ideas are submitted, they will be placed in a safe and then they will be opened.'' Mr. Osborn said that members of the Air Advisory Committee would meet and make the final decision on which of the five submissions to accept.

And he said the successful bidder would take over the 335 square foot space in the US post security level of the airport and establish the concession.

BELOC SEEKS APPROVAL PLN Belco seeks approval The Bermuda Electric Light Co. (Belco) is seeking planning permission to build a third smokestack at its Serpentine Road power plant.

Company spokesperson Linda Smith told The Royal Gazette Belco plans to install the 160-foot tall, 12-foot diameter exhaust stack and purchase two diesel generators capable of churning out 20-megawatts of power.

The additions, she said, are needed to keep pace with projected demand for power and the new generators and stack will combine the newest in technology and will improve Belco's environmental record.

The stack, expected to be in place by the summer of 1999, will be equipped with silent exhausts and will be subject to an evironmental impact assessment, looking at issues such as emissions, vibrations, and noise.