A citizen of Sherwood Forest, Portland, appeals to Acting Postmaster General Michael Gentles (back to camera), Senator Kern Spencer (second right) and MP Dr. Donald Rhodd (right) to revisit plans for the return of postal services to the area. The visit to the community was one stop on a recent tour in the Eastern Portland constituency on May 29. - CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
RURAL COMMUNITIES could benefit from a mobile postal service in the near future, Acting Postmaster General/CEO (PMG) Michael Gentles announced during a tour of the Eastern Portland constituency last Monday.
Gentles was accompanied on the tour by Member of Parlia-ment Dr. Donald Rhodd, as well as the recently-appointed Junior Minister in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Science and Technology, Senator Kern Spencer.
The tour objective was two-fold: To sensitise Sen. Spencer, who was recently transferred from the Ministry of National Security, thus assisting with his assimilation into a new role; as well as to provide an update for the ministers on aspects of the postal service arrangements in that section of the parish.
Visits were made to Port Antonio, Sherwood Forest, Castle, Priestman's River and Reach. Citizens at each location proudly welcomed the touring party to their community. Residents at all points visited expressed the view that the postal service was vital. However, the PMG alerted the ministers and citizens to the urgent need to implement modern, cost-effective solutions in order to transform the service to a profitable entity.
BOOKMOBILE STYLE
Among the options are arrangements for providing some rural communities - especially those that are further from main thoroughfares - with a mobile postal service, offered on specific days and at a time to be decided by the time required to span the route from the major town serving that area to the more rural setting and back to a main town.
Gentles stated: "This iteration will essentially reduce our dependence on a fixed location that incurs considerable overhead expenses, given the significant building maintenance plus personnel and operational costs. Based on our profitability focus, we are driven to offer communities a mobile service, but this is not new, as the Jamaica Library Service's bookmobile provides a model of how the new mobile postal service may function."
Further discussions will continue with Sen. Spencer regarding the possibility of improving a number of locations through an injection to the Post and Tele-communication Department's capital expenditure allocation during this financial year.
The postal service team accompanying the postmaster general was: Buildings Manager Lancelot Sinclair; Portland Regional Manager Hyacinth Hartley and Public Relations and Marketing Manager Gordon Brown.
