By Navendra Seoraj
THE newly-appointed members of the Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC) Board were on Friday charged to modernise its services, in light of the rapidly increasing world of Information Communication Technology (ICT).Under the stewardship of the new Chairman, Reverend Raphael Massiah, the Board is tasked with bringing a “sleeping giant” back to speed with the developing world.
Other members of the Board are Martin Gaul, Oscar Clarke, Maureen Philadelphia, Leon Dickson, Nicola Trotman, Gobin Harbhajan, Oslyn Armstrong, Harold Shepherd, Delon Baird and Karen Brown.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson congratulated the Board members, while noting that the Corporation is the oldest in the country, dating back to the 1800s and this shows its vast importance and relevance.
“I would like to congratulate the new Board members on their appointment and relate to you all that a lot depends on the stewardship, given that across the world there are many problems and challenges which postal services face.
“However, with the combination of experience and skill which I see at this table, I am sure that you will execute your mandate to the best of your abilities,” said Patterson.

HUB
Also participating in the ceremony were Minister of Public Telecommunication and Tourism Cathy Hughes who observed that in some parts of the country the post office is still a hub for community activities.
Therefore, she added, it should innovate itself with new ICT methods and technological enhancements in terms of mailing and so forth.

REBRAND, REPACKAGE
“The postal service is still a unit which is used to make contact with the rest of Guyana and around the world. Therefore, you must ensure that you look at other services and initiative in order to rebrand and repackage services which the GPOC offers,” said Minister Hughes.
And since the GPOC now partially falls under the Ministry of Public Telecommunications, she assured Board members that her Ministry will have a key interest in the output of the Corporation.
She noted that steps to develop interconnectivity, broadband services and implement solar panels at rural post office locations so that Internet services could be provided to the communities are among initiatives currently in the pipeline.
Meanwhile, Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson also stressed the importance of ICT development and the improvement of e-commerce, which will in turn improve the financial services and postal service development within the country.

INCREASE REVENUE
She charged the Board members to utilise and improve the services such as bill payment, money transfer, office space and also retail services which are offered at the 65 GPOC outlets across the country to increase revenue earnings.
The private sector has taken the lead when it comes to adapting to the digital age and increasing profits, so Ferguson encouraged the new Board to take a page out of the book of some leading express delivery services such as UPS, DHL and FEDEX.
Training of employees will also aid in this transition and modernisation of the Corporation so Minister Ferguson charged the GPOC Chairman to explore the resuscitation of the post office school which will aid in creating a customer- centric service.
In the meantime, Chairman Massiah announced that the Board will strive to adapt to the changing environment by implementing a number of innovations as the GPOC gears “itself to enter into the 21st century…”