Liberian Postal System in tatters as world observes 'post day'
On Wednesday as the world observed the 128th anniversary of Post Day, the Liberian postal system is in a state of collapsing never before known in the country’s recent history.
Coming out of 12 years of a brutal civil war which saw the destruction of national infrastructures, coupled with the emergence of a government that placed little or no emphasis on effective postal services, the woes of the post in Liberia abound.
Saddled in a debt of over 2.5 million US dollars owed to international postal organisations and airline mail couriers to and from Liberia, the country has had periodic and protracted absence from the global mailing system.
Liberia only a few months ago rejoined the international mailing circuit after renegotiating with two airlines – a European and an African – for the dispatch and receipt of mailed items.
Badly looted and ransacked during the war years, the Liberian Post and Telecommunications Ministry stands in ruins, debilitating the effective restoration of the local mailing system.
Today, internal mail delivery in the capital Monrovia, including the Home Mail Delivery scheme launched two years ago, is but a distant dream to be realised by postal authorities in the country.
Mail delivery vans and mailing stands that dotted the capital are relics of the past and so too are uniformed mailmen who once scurried into homes, businesses and government offices to off-load new consignments of mail.
Even more deprived are rural residents who for over a decade now have not known the pleasure of sending or receiving mail through the national postal network that worked almost perfectly a decade ago.
Poor road networks and the absence of internal air flights within Liberia’s 15 political sub-divisions suggest that rural dwellers are in for a long haul in getting their parcels and letters conveyed locally, much more internationally.
A member of the Universal Postal Union, Liberia is observing World Post Day “quietly and (will) consciously retrospect on the many contributions of the UPU to the growth of the post and telecommunications system, especially during this difficult period,” a government statement said.
But this year’s theme, “The Post Broadens Your Horizon,” may well just be the opposite for Liberians as their horizons get narrower from a postal system that is going from worse to the ridiculous.
