Postal Corp Introduces New Services

In its continued efforts to provide more convenient service to its customers, the Postal Corporation of Jamaica (Postcorp) will be extending its provision of private mailboxes beyond post offices.
This means that in the near future, persons will be able to pick up their mail from their own private boxes in various places such as supermarkets. Persons will also have the convenience of collecting their mail even after post office hours. Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer of the Postal Corporation Dr. Blossom O’Meally Nelson disclosed this during a recent JIS interview. Speaking about new initiatives that were being introduced by the Corporation, Dr. O’Meally Nelson said the service would be provided particularly in those areas not served by a post office. Traditionally, private letterboxes were only available on the post office compound.
“We are looking in particular at housing schemes where you could have your letter box in a common area like near to a community centre and we are also looking at apartment complexes,” she stated.
The Postmaster General pointed out that the boxes would be secured with each person having their own key. This service will cost subscribers between $2,500 and $3,000 per year. Dr. O’Meally Nelson further informed that private letterboxes would be activated soon for residents in the Long Mountain area at the community centre near Beverley Hills.
She said this would represent the first set of private letterboxes established outside the post office. Dr. O’Meally Nelson added that a similar initiative was slated to take place at Angels Estate and other areas around Spanish Town.
Dr. O’Meally Nelson also informed that the Postal Corporation would be introducing a courier service to its customers. “We have identified that there is a market that’s below DHL, Tara and FedEx, as it is not everything that has to reach the same day or next day. There is a market where people are willing to pay less to get something out the next day or within two days,” she explained, adding that the post office courier would target this niche service. It will be offered at a rate below that of private providers and below the cost of using the Corporation’s Zip Mail (24-hour) service.
Initially the service will be a business-to-business facility before it is extended to a business-to-individual service and later to an individual-to-individual service. The post office courier service would not be offered in uneconomical areas, that is, places that are too remote.
According to Dr. O’Meally Nelson, the service should come on stream by the end of October. In the meantime she said, Express Mail International Service to the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada is now available. The five-day delivery service is facilitated by an online track-and-trace system that can inform on the status of items being delivered, Dr. O’Meally Nelson said.