month as Belco presses ahead with departmental shake-ups in an overall effort to streamline the company.

Immediate further lay-offs are not expected, but Belco president Mr. Garry Madeiros could not guarantee there would not be more before the end of the year.

In a press release yesterday, it was announced the employees, all from the Customer Service Department and most of whom occupied supervisory positions, would receive early retirement packages where appropriate.

Others would receive redundancy compensation.

Remaining employees in the Customer Service Department would be cross-trained to perform a broader range of services, and changes to the office at the company headquarters were also in the pipeline, said the release.

Meanwhile, departments yet to come under review could face similar measures.

"We told our employees there would be some tough decisions to be made and this is one of them,'' Mr. Madeiros said.

"We are constantly looking at Belco and, at the end of the day, at the service being provided to customers. Everything we do is customer-focussed.'' But he added the company had no choice but to change in order to expand business potential and to better serve customers.

Belco would therefore be in a better position to respond to the challenges of the year 2000 and control the cost of electricity, he said.

Plans to improve efficiency by revising and simplifying procedures, improving communication between customer service areas and cutting out reporting levels so that customers benefitted from a "one-stop'' service had been in the works for the past 18 months, said Belco spokeswoman Miss Linda Smith.