The Gambia Postal Services Corporation (Gampost) on Monday 9th October 2012 joined the rest of the world to celebrate the Word Postal Day on the theme: “A new strategy for a new world.”
As part of the activities marking the event, the postal services provider convened a press conference to highlight some of their successes and challenges.
Speaking at the press conference, Foday Jaiteh, officer in charge, said Gampost have new products in place such as the Express Mail Services (EMS), International Express Money Order (IEMO), Money Express, MoneyGram, as well as tracking and tracing of mails across the world.
“Gampost is fast and reliable,” he said adding that their product is doing well. Gampost is cheap and can reliably deliver mails in five working days.”
The officer in charge told the press that they have improved tremendously, and are committed in doing so.
He said they are a community services providers and closer to people, and one of their objectives is to ensure accessibility and affordability by their clients.
Reacting to the issues of delays in delivery of mails, he said: “Delay of mails occurs because of security checking of the parcels.”Majority of the delay, he added, is not caused deliberately as they are always working on post codes systems to deliver mails to the doorsteps of customers.
Henry Davies, director of operations, Gampost appealed to mail owners to visit their boxes at least on a weekly basis to avoid congestion.
He also urged people to pay for their mail boxes, saying “Gampost have millions of dalasis of arrears with people.”“If people don’t need boxes, let them come and declared it. We have thousands of people on the waiting list,” said the director of operations.
According to him, they have new measures in place that monitor each and every transaction of mails. “We have the NIA and NDEA with us as part of the security measures. Our motto is “we deliver as promised,” he added.
Adama Ceesay, director of Human Resources, said one of the major challenges Gampost is faced with is that there is no institution in the country offering postal operations training courses.
Madam Ceesay was optimistic that in 2013, something will be started on that line to have a course on basic training.
She urged the general public to help keep track of mails by registering their numbers, noting that the difficulty customers have in tracking is because their database is in Switzerland and this tracking can only be done at the Gampost office.
Ebrima Jeng of the financial services department Gampost, said that their aim is to reach the rural community.
“We wanted to be closer to the people, and every year we opened two new branches,” said Jeng.
