Dear Editor,
If I post a letter or card to the United States or Canada, it would take nearly a month to reach its destination. I cannot even think about corresponding with someone in Los Angeles or those West Coast or Midwestern states; mail takes nearly three months to go back and forth. Why the long wait? In this day and age, believe me, I would rather send an email or an electronic card to recipients. However, there are some things which can never replace the traditional postal letter or card, and hence I must utilize the snail mail process from time to time. I now know why they use the term ‘snail mail,’ and it certainly fits the Guyanese situation when sending mails overseas.
The Guyana Post Office keeps saying that there are limited flights out of Guyana and thus the pile-up and/or delay of the mail. But every day there are flights out of Guyana – every day! The postal service should ’fess up to the blame and accept the fact that their services are inefficient and out of date in these modern technological times.
Why should Guyanese pay thousands for sending express mails with the courier services just to avoid the long wait their relatives and associates overseas have to endure before their stuff actually arrives?
Oh, another thing as we’re on the subject. Whenever you are sending a little package or card where the cost of postage is higher than normal, the post office and vendors never have enough stamps in large denominations. What happens is that you will have to pile on a set of $20 stamps to make up. Before you know it, the entire package has a barrage of stamps on the front. Our relatives must laugh indeed when it gets to them. The stamp system also needs to be properly rethought.
Do you know that mail from the US and Canada takes a shorter time to get here? There are also instances when letters and cards are lost en route to their destinations. The post office has no explanation to give. When can we do away with our seemingly antiquated postal system and truly get down to the actual business of getting people’s letters, card, and other mail to their destination as fast as possible?
Yours faithfully,
Leon Jameson Suseran