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A POSTAL LONGEVITY

Dec 05, 2015 Editorial, Features / Columnists

For decades, Guyana’s postal service has been only providing two main services to the nation—the mailing and delivery of letters and parcels and the granting of birth certificates. The premises of the Post Office have also been used for other services such as to pay pensioners, especially in the rural areas.
Prior to the introduction of telephones, the Guyana Post Office was the centre of incoming and outgoing telegrams to and from the interior as well as from overseas. Subsequently, the telegraph service was replaced by telephones.
To some in the public domain, the Guyana Post Office is ancient and outdated, but it is a much needed institution because the service it provides is important to the people. It is an icon, a relic, an esteemed institution from the colonial era that has served the nation with grandeur.
But this is not a question only for a few in the public or those who are intimately connected with Post Office, but indeed with the services it provides to the wider public and its viability to survive in the 21st century.
Looking on from the outside and without the detailed knowledge of either its revenues or expenditures, it is difficult to conclude whether or not the Guyana Post Office is a profitable agency. This can only be determined by its balance sheets which the public would not have access to, except from an auditor’s report.
The Postal Service is not only considered a provider of services to the people, but is also viewed as a landmark institution to most Guyanese. It has been a vital link between the people in the interior of Guyana and in the urban centers and overseas. Over the years, it has also provided a key service for both the Government and commerce and has been a sentimental link as a social and economic connection.
However, the advent of the mobile phone, Internet, social media and increased competition from private courier providers has reduced the services and income of the post office network. For the average person, business has become much simpler and better with modern technology, especially with the invention of the smart phones.
The Post Office will have to change its current business format if it is to remain relevant and competitive to prevent even greater migration from the services it now offers. Its survival depends on its use of modern technology.
While the Postal Service has always been a national institution, the reality is that the delivery of letters and other services offered by the Post Office are on decline due to instant access to online services.
This has led to a shortfall in revenue for the Post Office which will have little or no choice but to reduce its workforce in order to lower its costs and remain a viable institution. And raising the price of stamps to reflect the true economic costs will reduce its services even further.
The Guyana Postal Service clearly qualifies as one of those institutions which the Government should seriously think of modernizing if it is to remain viable, and be able to compete and meet the needs of the people. It cannot compete if its 19th century operations format is not updated to meet the service demands of the 21st century.
Of necessity, the Post Office must become a more service-oriented organization. This may require a modern computerized system, better management of time, improved services and a seven-day-a-week operation, with the ability to provide overnight and weekend services.
It should also undertake realistic projections of its current and future needs and its ability to survive against stiff competition by couriers and online services.
Like most government agencies, radical reforms and updated systems and services will likely be required; otherwise the government will have to continue to subsidy the Post Office at a time when schools, hospitals, roads and infrastructure are in desperate need of funding.

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