Dear Editor,
The response from Ms Whyte, PRO of the Guyana Post Office Corporation to the letter by Ms Cynthia Nelson gives the impression that this practice of opening mail has only occurred in relation to mail arriving in Barbados from Guyana (‘GPOC has not received any report from Barbados Post Office of Guyana’s mail being cut open and taped,’ SN, January 4). Editor, this is definitely not accurate. I live in Pennsylvania in the USA and have received mail from Guyana that has been sliced open along the side of the envelope and then taped shut and the tape carried the rubber stamp of the GPO.
I have no objection to my mail being opened by security if the purpose is to curtail the rampant trade in narcotics and if it is a random process. Of course to date CANU has hardly brought a fowl thief to trial; nearly all the major arrests of Guyanese smugglers have been done by authorities outside Guyana, even as far away as Africa.
My problem at this time is why is the GPOC misleading people about the opening of mail. If this activity is being done as a crime-fighting measure and is above board why not admit to its existence? The criminals are always the first to know of these activities and I am sure have changed their mode of communication or shipment if this was their modus operandi. Or is the opening of personal mail serving another purpose?
Yours faithfully,
Keith Branch