Ridiculous adjustments to the postal rates
published: Friday | October 10, 2003
THE EDITOR, Sir:
ON JUNE 26, 2002 I read in The Gleaner that a contract had been signed the previous Friday for a $199-million complex which would house, among other things, a new post office in Liguanea, St. Andrew. The Minister of Industry, Commerce and Technology said that the project would be completed within the next 12 months.
Perhaps my arithmetic is lacking but by my calculations that statement made a promise that by the end of June 2003 the citizens of Liguanea would have the use of a brand new post office. It is now over three months since the promised date and the new post office is still not ready. To add insult to injury, we are now hearing that postal rates are probably going to go up yet again to help the Postal Corporation of Jamaica, which now has losses of $300 million a year, become profitable by 2006.
The point was made by the Minister that Jamaica had one of the lowest postal rates in the Caribbean. I am not arguing that observation but when we keep devaluing our currency it simply makes everything more expensive, resulting in ridiculous adjustments to the price of postal rates et al. I feel confident that Jamaica is probably the only country in the Caribbean that has, since January 1990 already increased its local, U.S. and U.K. rates by 5,900 per cent, 7,172 per cent and 6,329 per cent respectively. Being that my arithmetic is suspect I will let you work it out yourselves.
Prior to October of 1990 my information says that the local, U.S. and U.K. rates were $0.25, $0.55 and $0.70 so if they are now at $15, $40 and $45, try the maths for yourselves. I am sure that if we as regular citizens had received pay increases of this magnitude we would be less inclined to complain about the upcoming postal rate adjustments. Even with these increases letters to and from areas in Jamaica as well as overseas are still averaging a week or more and in many cases a lot longer to be delivered. No wonder the Postal Corporation is losing money!
