One-stop shop - Linstead Post Office facilitates many demands

 LINSTEAD, St Catherine:

LOCATED ON Fletcher's Avenue in Linstead, St Catherine, is a post office which was established as part of the original postal network developed by Jamaica's first postmaster general, Edward Dismore.

The office was originally categorised as a telegraph office, savings bank, and money order office. This classification primarily referred to the services that were offered at that time.

However, as the nature of the business of post grew and changed, so did the post office, which was reclassified as a Grade Three facility - a full-service office - in 1997.

So Linstead Post Office evolved from its core functions into satisfying the demands of its customers, who journey from as far as Lluidas Vale to access its services.

The integration of technology into its operations, as it seeks to enhance customer satisfaction, is a plus for customers like 70-year-old Mildred Brown.

"Mi have arthritis and me can't manage the whole heap a walking up and down, so most times I just collect mi pension and pay mi light bill same place, but them say the Paymaster section not working right now. See, them put up a sign there," she pointed to a sign which read, 'Please be advised that the Paymaster service is temporarily out of service. Sorry for the inconvenience caused. Thank you'."

But seniors aren't the only ones who have welcomed the evolution of the 15-member staff facility. Sharon, in her mid-40s, likens the post office to a one-stop shop.

"Linstead Post Office really step up inna life," she chuckled.

"It's like you can come here so come do everything. I collect money sent through MoneyGram here all the while because me couldn't badda go a bank wid dem deh long line, and mi buy all two phonecard same time right here," she shared with our news team recently.

Her statement evoked a comment from another customer, seemingly keen to participate in the conversation.

"Is my loan me come pay cause me borrow money to stock up me shop. Right here so convenient fi mi because me always get through quick. The line inna the JN always long," remarked the young lady in her 20s.

For others, like Hayden Jordan, a travelling minister for Jehovah's Witnesses, the traditional way of sending a parcel to Canada is still practical and convenient.

"I use this post office regularly. I was assisted by the clerk and I am quite satisfied with the service here. I find the staff quite courteous," he told The Gleaner.

Yet, customers like John, who wanted his mail to be delivered within a week, opted for the express mail service (EMS), designed to provide customers with expedited international mail service to countries including the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and the Caribbean.

"The express mail takes up to five working days to reach its destination," explained Martelean Williams, acting postmaster. She said that $1,500 per kilogram was the general base rate to any destination.

Information

Jordan sought information about the registered mail service.

"Suppose I want to send it as registered mail instead?" he enquired.

"The registered mail takes about two weeks and the charge is different, but you will be required to use your TRN and a valid ID, just like using the express service," Williams responded.

We observed a number of persons using the EMS during our visit to the post office.

Other services currently available at the Linstead Post Office, a feeder office for other post offices and agencies in the Spanish Town region, are the delivery of the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education letters and the encashment of United States Postal Money Orders

- K. S.