Postal Service takes giant leap with EMS

The SVG Postal Corporation has taken a giant leap forward with the launch of its Express Mail Service (EMS).

That step falls in line with those the corporation’s director, Celene Jack says postal service must take if they are to survive.

At the launch of the new service last Monday July 18 at the Ministerial Building, Jack sought to assure the public that the service would be faster and reliable, at affordable rates. {{more}}

She stressed that the international Postal Industry was changing rapidly, a move being driven by competition, technology and liberalisation. The director however emphasised that the industry is mostly driven by customers. She saw the launch of EMS as the postal administration’s way of being responsive to the market: “While the Post has survived the challenge posed a century ago by the invention of the telephone, the new challenge created by electronic communication of text is far a greater one.’

Also present at Monday’s launch, chairman of the Board of Directors, Judith Veira said her team had realised the importance of establishing EMS and had worked tirelessly to implement it.

She re-assured customers that the postal service had been upgraded to have a clear flow of mail which are stamped and would go through the track and trace system. Veira noted that by using computers, the security measures had been tightened from airport delivery right up to the customer and said that while they face stiff competition for supremacy in the communication world, they would pass the test by continuing to upgrade.

Regional Adviser of the Universal Postal Union, Herbert Niles, congratulated the local union for what he described as a remarkable transformation. He said this country had made the changeover within a short space of time and said that SVG was an example that size was not an impediment to performance.

He called on everyone not to rest in their achievements and urged them to continue to raise the expectations of their customers. The question now, he said, is whether the post could adapt to a changing environment where quality service was being demanded.

Also commending Vincentians for setting up the EMS service, was Deputy Postmaster of St.Kitts, Jennifer Niles who noted that St.Vincent and the Grenadines was now linked to other countries to deliver domestic and priority mail. She said the mail would be given special bar codes to ensure that each piece could be traced and identified.

Strengthening the improved security issue was feature speaker Deputy Prime Minister Louis Straker who advised:”No longer would you find letters stuffed in the ceiling. There are police over looking the mail; we have surveillance cameras monitoring the whole operation. We are doing everything possible to ensure that your mail is secure. We are a government that doesn’t just look at the problem, but we find the solution.”

The Deputy Prime Minister also encouraged the staff to show courtesy and respect to everyone despite their status, since some may be illiterate and find using the system a challenge.

The improvement in the postal service was a product of an Act of Parliament #17- 2:3 which Straker called part of his government’s revolution of the postal service.

He revealed that there had been bilateral agreements with other postal administrations in the Caribbean, North America and UK to receive and deliver Express Mail.

Two members of staff, Lennie “Surpriser” Francois and Dennis “Vyrus” Samuel performed a calypso about the efficiency of the mailing service, which went down well with the audience.

The theme of SVG Post is “write it, post it and we deliver it!”