Increasing need for better postal service

Increasing need for better postal service
>From KUWAIT TIMES, March 31st, 2001
KUWAIT: There have been a number of complaints from the citizens and
inhabitants in Kuwait when it concerns the postal service. Even
companies find it annoying when the mail does not reach their office
nor their customers. Kuwait Times contacted the Ministry of Communication
and the
Assistant undersecretary of the post service sector, Suleiman
Al-Haggan. He answered some of our questions. Q1. Apparently there is a
need for a postal box to receive mails in
Kuwait. Why is that mails are not delivered to the houses like any
other country? A: The post office department presents a service of
distributing
mail to boxes and places of residence. Our services covers all areas
of Kuwait including the remote ones. Kuwait post office is the
pioneer in distributing mail to the places of residence in the Gulf
region. As this service is important the post office signed a
contract with a local company to carry on this service in
cooperation with British postal Service. Q2: To obtain a postal box there
is a long queue. How can new
residents receive their mail if they do not even have access to a
postal box? A: The post office spares no effort to provide postal boxes to
all
post offices in the state of Kuwait. The number of post office boxes
in the state of Kuwait is 110600. It is true that there is an
increasing demand for post office boxes and we are working towards
meeting the demand without exception according to the numbers
available. It is sometimes difficult to increase the number due to
small areas, while boxes are rented to everyone regardless of
nationality provided that boxes are available. Q3. Even though the citizen
has a postal box they currently complain
that they are not receiving their letters. What are you planning to
do to meet these complaints? A: The post office does not differentiate
between citizens and
non-citizens as far as services are concerned. As far as letters not
reaching their boxes, it was confirmed that all letters addressed to
boxes are distributed the same day they arrive. Sometimes
unintentional mistakes may happen, but those get corrected during
auditing. Q4: Mobile Telecommunication companies are currently complaining
that their customers do not pay their bills because they do not
receive them? What are you doing to improve the mail system in
Kuwait? A: Most important reasons for some letters sent by
telecommunications companies or banks not reaching its intended
persons is due to incorrect addresses especially in newly
established areas, because companies rely on addresses written down
on civil identification cars, and such addresses change, also those
citizens who move into new house after living in flats. Also there
are some mistakes when addresses are entered, so we always ask all
parties to update their data periodically to avoid errors. The
number of letters that cannot be distributed are within accepted
levels. Q5: There are mailboxes around in Kuwait so the citizens can mail
their letters, but apparently these are not emptied and the letters
are remaining in the boxes for months. This is not an acceptable
service. What are your comments to this issue? A: What was said in this
question is not true, because boxes are
emptied on daily basis according to the schedules fixed on them.
Even these boxes are emptied more than once a day. The department
uses very strict supervision system through computers and daily
reports. Q6: When citizens finally receive their letters or parcels, they
are
frequently opened and sometimes items disappear. How can these items
be refunded and are the post service aware of these incidents? A: As for
the opening of some postal parcels, that is done by
customs inspectors, and there are correspondence between the
ministry and the customs department. A joint committee was formed to
find solutions for this situation. Q7: After conversations with the postal
sector in Kuwait, it was
revealed that the staff in the postal service is not doing their job
and that the postal sector is suffering from their behaviour. What
are your means to improve their behaviour and to improve the
service? A: It is well known that one of the most important factors
affecting
quality of postal service is employees competence. In fact, this
factor may be the corner stone and all postal departments depend on
it to present the post facilities in an honourable way. Despite what
was said in the question, we confirm that the great majority of
employees execute their duties honestly. Still there are very few
lazy employees and they are dealt with according to the
administrative rules. Q8: How does the postal service handle registered
mail coming to
Kuwait? A: Mail is dealt with according to local and international post
laws. The mail is exchanged between postal departments through the
international documents regarding registered mail in order to have
close supervision and make it possible to inquire about the items.
We established lately a system to record registered mail through
computers. Q9: Why does it take so long to receive mail in Kuwait? From
Europe
it takes approximately two weeks. A: What was said it not true, as
statistics confirm that the average
of mail arriving from Europe does not take more than one week from
the time of its posting in the country of origin. The time the mail
takes to reach the addressee is the responsibility of the sending
post office and the receiving one together, in addition to the
airline transporting mail. Q10: What should a citizen do to be sure that a
letter is sent from
Kuwait or they need to receive an important letter from abroad? A: It is
possible to ask about registered mail addressed outside
Kuwait, but for Momtaz mail, it is possible to ask the parcels and
Momtaz department at Keifan exchange or even through the Internet.
Copyright 2001 Kuwait Times.
Source: World Reporter (Trade Mark) – Middle East Intelligence Wire.KUWAIT
TIMES, 31st March 2001