Geared toward improving operational efficiency, the automation exercise will begin with post office savings bank operations, eventually expanding to include international mail dispatch and counter services.
According to Postmaster General Alfred Clarke, the computerised operations will also help the department in preserving its customer base in an increasingly competitive market featuring a number of private courier services.
“It is unfortunate that it’s now 2004 and we in the post office in The Bahamas are now just implementing automation, but automation would affect our services by eliminating the present hand-written documents that we are using and replacing them with a computerised situation” said Mr. Clarke.
The postmaster noted that the soon to be computerised savings bank operations will make that department more effective by storing all customer account information electronically, rather than in the volumes of paper records currently used.
He added that the new system would also replace manual interest calculations with computer-generated interest payments.
Mr. Clarke said, however, that while the automated system will improve record keeping and the tracking of mail, it is not expected to have a significant impact on mail delivery services.
“I think we have a good record now, despite what you may read or hear, of delivery time for mail that comes to us. What we attempt to do is have mail placed in the boxes in a day in most cases,” he said.
“It is not my belief that we should go the route of automation by purchasing a letter sorter at this time,” he added, pointing out that such a system can cost as much as one million dollars.
According to Mr. Clarke, mail deposited at the East Hill Street Main Post Office before 10 am daily will be distributed by 1 pm the same day, while mail delivered before 3 pm will be distributed that afternoon or in the early part of the following day.
Mail delivered to other New Providence branches should be delivered to the main post office the same day or the next business day, he said.
Mr. Clarke pointed out that when the new automated system is fully implemented tracking services would be available for registered mail in addition to the service, which is presently available for express mail.
Darrin Culmer, The Bahama Journal
