last week.

And International Bonded Couriers owner Glen Smith, president and chairman of Bermuda Air Express (BAE), the company formed to run the centre for all four couriers in Bermuda, said the group had buried the hatchet with Transport Minister Wayne Furbert.

A war of words broke out after Government heard BAE planned to impose a new $7 charge for all incoming dutiable items -- and had blamed the increase on Government.

Mr. Furbert said that he estimated the income to the four firms at $2 million plus a year.

But he said Government had renovated the building at a cost of $300,000, while the courier firms were to pay just $82,000 a year in rent and costs for a new X-ray machine.

Yesterday, however, Mr. Smith said he had since met Mr. Furbert, Finance Minister Grant Gibbons and Community Affairs Minister Sen. Yvette Swan to explain the charge.

He said: "It was clearly a misunderstanding as to the number of packages which come in and for which we are charging.'' Mr. Smith said the charge would be applied to around 45,000 packages a year, netting just $315,000.

He added -- with the cost of 17 staff drawn from the firms, as well as rent, electricity, administration and other charges -- the new centre would cost $967,000 a year to run.

And Mr. Smith said the 90 cents Government levy on incoming parcels had never been passed on to customers.

He explained: "It's come to a time when we could package the whole thing and collect from the end-user because none of us can support these costs.'' And Mr. Smith pointed out: "If you were to bring a package in through the freight cargo shed, you pay a $8 handling charge -- that's just to move it through the shed to the docks.'' Mr. Furbert could not be contacted for comment last night.

AIRPORT FLY