Dear Editor,
FOR a very long time now, I note with a great deal of interest that all my overseas mail, delivered to me from the Guyana Post Office Corporation, have been tampered. I received a mail from the USA last week, and I noticed the envelope came in a sealed plastic bag. When I opened the bag, I discovered that the envelope had been opened with a sharp object, like a knife, but the person who opened my mail could not paste it back, because the envelope was damaged; so he/she took scotch tape and pasted the envelope, then cleverly placed it in a clear plastic bag. I also noticed a stamp at the back of the envelope with the words: “Received at GPO: Taped, soiled, damaged etc. with a scratched signature on a line and the date 24/11/15.”

Mr. Editor, this is not the first time this has happened to my overseas mail; it has been happening for over five years, but when I went to inquire about it, I was told that my mail had been received by GPOC damaged, which I found difficult to believe. The stamp they placed at the back of my mail cleared them off the hook from any suspicion of mail tampering.

From my keen observation these people who opened my mail were searching for something, because the contents in the mail have marks of hands or fingers on them.

If the customs are opening mail, then I think their stamp should be on the mail. What is the purpose of the plastic bag if someone is not trying to cover up something? Then what about scanning mail? Overseas mail are checked through scanners, they have no need to cut open the envelopes.

Not very long ago, I sent a package to England by express mail at GPOC. It contained a cheque in Pounds Sterling. My package was destroyed and the cheque was stolen. Customs officials had examined my package before posting; they knew I had a cheque in it, but thought it was registered. Still, it was stolen and the contents destroyed. I was not aware of my missing package until the bank sent me a letter informing me that my cheque was not cashed. Upon inquiry to the England company, I was informed that my package was never received.

When I took my receipt and inquired at GPO, I was told, after a few months had passed, that my package is very difficult to trace. In my opinion, a registered express mail ought to be secure; that’s why it’s called: registered express mail.

It’s amazing that my other mail coming from GPL,GRA, GT&T have not been tampered and placed in a plastic bag. If they are examining mail for money, cheques, or drugs, it would be wise to thoroughly examine all of them, both local and overseas. I would want to assume that a few pieces of mail coming from overseas can be tampered, but it’s more than ridiculous to see all my personal overseas having been violated and searched all the time, and to know that some I never received.

I visited a Post Office not long ago, and I saw two female workers were sorting out a bag of overseas mail. I behaved as if I was not watching them, but I saw clearly that they were putting the mail on the sunlight reflection to see what was inside the envelopes. One even had a little torch light. That incident convinced me that most mail tampering is done right here in Guyana, and can be easily covered up because our security system to catch corrupt workers is very weak.

Because mail move around like money, it’s easier to say it arrived from Trinidad like that, then Trinidad can blame St. Lucia, and they all can say it came so from the USA. So it’s very difficult to make a case of this horrendous dilemma we are faced with, until someone starts to file lawsuits against these organisations.

In my experience with FEDEX and DHL, I sent lots of packages, which all arrived in just a day or two in the USA, and nothing was missing. It’s time our new administration and the relevant authorities step up the standard of GPO. With modern technology, mail will soon become obsolete; yet we still need the mailing system to post important documents.

How reliable is our mailing system? What kind of people do we have working in these offices? Are they people of integrity? Can they be trusted? Why do mail posted from Georgetown take three weeks to reach the East Coast, and some two months to reach Berbice?

I am calling on the relevant authorities to put in place laws in our Post Offices to eradicate mail tampering and theft.

Yours truly,
Rev. Gideon Cecil