After an absence of two years, some 40 postal workers will be returning to the AMF building at the Airport in January to resume their duties. This follows the severe damage to the mail processing centre during Hurricane Fabian two years ago.

Bermuda?s Postmaster General, George Outerbridge, on Tuesday told Rotarians that repairs to the physical structure of the old AMF building were recently completed.

With the help of the New Zealand Postal Consulting Company, the Bermuda Mail Processing Centre (BMPC) will be converted into a Centralised Mail Processing Centre for both international and local mail. This, he said, would go a long way to facilitate an efficient mail processing operation.

Mr. Outerbridge praised the efforts and patience of about 40 staff members that were ?displaced? when their offices were destroyed in Fabian. They were transferred to the General Post Office in Hamilton and although conditions were cramped and sometimes difficult, he said his staff hung in there for the last two years.

?We are expecting to move into the BMPC facility starting in January with a completely renovated building and all new modernised mail processing equipment,? he said, adding that the cost of the new equipment was met by the Universal Postal Union Quality of Service Fund and did not cost the Bermuda Government a cent.

The Post Office has a revenue of roughly $7.8 million in 2004/2005 and Mr. Outerbridge anticipates an out-turn of just over $8 million in this financial year.

He said one of the strategic objectives was to improve the revenue yield which is why the Post Office has been undergoing a thorough review of its strategic direction, organisational structure, operational policies and procedures.

In line with this the management structure at the Bermuda Post Office has changed in recent months with the creation of two new divisions ? the Corporate Services Division and the Operations Division. ?In addition, the new post of Co-ordinator Sub Post Offices was created to ensure that the daily functions of the 14 Sub Post Offices are properly co-ordinated and ensures that effective communication linkages exist between the Sub Post Offices and Headquarters,? he said.

The Post Office is one of seven departments in the Ministry of Finance and operates under the policy direction of the Minister of Finance.