Residents delighted as refurbished Ocho Rios Post Office reopens

Residents of St Ann who use the Ocho Rios Post Office have expressed delight that the recently refurbished facility is now open to the public.

The post office opened on Monday after being closed for 11 months to facilitate the refurbishing.

During the closure, postal services were accessed at a temporary location at Ocean Village Shopping Centre, located in proximity to the post office building.

After doing business at the post office, Arlene Pearson, who lives in Exchange, St Ann, said she was happy for it.

“I think it’s looking good, and, most of all, the AC (air conditioning). I appreciate it very much, and I’m very happy for this,” Pearson told The Gleaner.

Workers at the post office said they, too, were happy for the upgrade but declined to speak on the record.

The most noticeable improvements were the installation of glass doors at the front, which previously was just an open space, the installation of air-conditioning units, and the building of a wheelchair ramp.

Several other areas were renovated and the building given a paint job.

The Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) sponsored the project, although the cost has not been revealed.

“The infrastructure was not appealing to customers. Therefore, the [Post and Telecommunications] Department sought to partner with the TEF to make it more spacious, modern and customer-centric,” Eastern Regional Coordinator Natasha Russell Martin pointed out in a Jamaica Information Service interview.

She added: “The Post and Telecommunications Department wants to let our customers know that we are thinking of them and, slowly but surely, we are getting there in terms of modernising our entity and staying relevant.”