Letter of the Day | Explore broader horizons of postal service
Published:Sunday | April 29, 2018 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir
The Auditor General's Department must be congratulated for the all-important work in monitoring the responsibility of public spending and the efficiency of public institutions in delivering service. Those groups lobbying for public accountability must ensure that this department is provided with the necessary resources to continue this valuable, critical and meaningful work in public accountability.
But what happens after the report? Is there a public entity that follows up on the report and recommendations of the Auditor General's Department?
The page one article, 'Huge fees, no mail' (Gleaner, April 27, 2018), reveals that the arrangements with postal agents to deliver mail were uneconomic. The follow-up article, 'PostCorp struggles to deliver mandate' (Gleaner, April 28, 2018) illustrates the failure of PostCorp, which was established in 2000 to modernise the postal system.
So important and far-reaching were the revelations from the Auditor General's Department that on April 28, the matter was the subject of an editorial of The Sunday Gleaner. The editorial states that the auditor general is telling us what we already know; I agree, but it was also important that the auditor general provided the evidence, and she must be publicly commended for her work.
What I strongly agree with the editorial is, where do we go from here? The public sector performs like some Sunday churches, having fixed programmes. The 1980s witnessed profound changes in information and communication. To make it simple, I witnessed the development of many courier companies and e-commerce companies since the 1990s.
There is the case of one courier company that started with a type of three-wheeled motor vehicle and developed into having planes. The foreign courier companies have also planted their stakes in Jamaica.
The Government once led the debate on the logistics hub, but was never serious with practising what is preached. These post offices, many having more than adequate spaces for storage, should partner with logistics, e-commerce and courier businesses.
There is a general thinking that Government should not be in the business of making money. What mortal fools we be. I hope there will be more performance audits in the future across the public landscape. I wish also that these reports from the Auditor General's Department will not become a nine-day wonder. We need a 21st-century postal service.
LOUIS E.A. MOYSTON (PhD)