Local Postal Service benefits from Regional Conference

Sandra Davoren

Basseterre, St. Kitts, June 17, 2013 (SKNIS): The Postal Service in St. Kitts and Nevis is better positioned to improve operations and diversify offerings to the public after hosting the 16th annual Conference of the Caribbean Postal Union (CPU).

Twenty eight of the twenty nine member countries were represented at the June 10 – 14 event held at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort under the theme: Facing the Challenges of a Digital Society.

The Federation’s Postmaster General Sandra Davoren said that the networking at the conference was very useful. A number of Information Technology (IT) solutions to track packages and facilitate bill payments were mentioned as key topics.

“If I use St. Kitts as an example, we have post offices around the island, so you can go into a post office in Sandy Point, Tabernacle, Cayon, Old Road and once you have that platform and that service is available it is easy to go into a post office and ask to have a bill paid,” she stated, noting that this service has been previously considered by senior local officials.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry responsible for Post, Curt Lewis told SKNIS that Government was committed to transform the offering of the postal service given the rise of the digital society. He said St. Kitts and Nevis was strategically positioned considering that the Department of Post and the Department of Technology falls within the same ministerial portfolio.

Curt Lewis

Mr. Lewis indicated that a plan being reviewed involved counter automation.

“Instead of having a clerk of the Water Services Department (WSD) come to the post office to do the transaction of the WSD, the cashiers at the Post Office can actually process bill payments, they can issue stamps, do (mobile) top-ups, they can deal with social security and pension payments all in one,” he said.

Mr. Lewis added that this is in keeping with the E-government strategy.

“One of the challenging issues that the government has been grappling with is the ease of doing business,” the Permanent Secretary said. “The [Department of] Post as it is positioned has the capability of making that possible, reducing the time or increasing the ease of doing business within the Federation because of the … branches that are located around the island.”

Lewis congratulated Postmaster General Davoren for expertly chairing the conference. He wished her well in her upcoming tenure as the Chair of the Management Board for the Caribbean Postal Union.