Michael Gentles (right), Jamaica's acting postmaster general/CEO, at a seminar at the conference of the Caribbean Postal Union (CPU). Gentles was elected the CPU's secretary general. - CONTRIBUTED
JAMAICA'S ACTING Post-master General/CEO, Michael Gentles, was elected to the chair of secretary general of the Caribbean Postal Union (CPU) at the recently concluded 10th annual conference which was held in St Vincent.
He will continue to be based in Jamaica for the duration of the two-year term of office. Loretta Charlemagne, who previously held this position, is now
the Universal Postal Union's (UPU) regional adviser to the Caribbean. The UPU is a branch of the United Nations and is specifically geared towards postal service cooperation via international laws and conventions.
SECRETARY GENERAL'S ROLE
Among the range of duties, Gentles will: be an adviser to the Caribbean Council of Ministers of Postal Affairs, the Conference and the Management Board; represent the CPU at meetings, conferences and negotiations; prepare the draft annual budget of the CPU and report to the Management Board on the progress of each Task Force's assignment.
Gentles will oversee the CPU Secretariat, which comprises a secretary general and any other member as decided by the conference and Management Board. Persons deployed to the secretariat report directly to the secretary general.
The functions of the secretariat are to handle the affairs of the CPU, perform special assignments and missions entrusted to it by the secretary general, as well as to prepare the draft budget of the CPU. It also undertakes duties assigned to it by the Management Board through the secretary general.
The CPU, one of the nine restricted unions within the Universal Postal Union, was established in St. Lucia on September 5, 1997. It is an intergovernmental agency with a membership of 28 countries.
