GENTLES

JAMAICA, A member-state of the Caribbean Postal Union (CPU), will once again be integrated into the Christmas airmail initiative coordinated with the United States Postal Service (USPS). The pro-active approach is in reference to the anticipated increase in mail volume during the holiday season.

Postmaster General/CEO Michael Gentles is scheduled to attend the preliminary round of negotiations in Miami this week. Last year, CPU officials were deployed overseas to accelerate the processing and transfer between airlines, as well as to effectively resolve irregularities that may have arisen. Also, on the local front, staff was temporarily deployed to key mail-processing areas and arrangements made for greater flexibility in mail route dispatches.

The CPU's Christmas airmail plan has evolved from a watchdog approach, where a designated USPS observer in Miami monitors both inbound and outbound mail, to last year's strategy in which two senior CPU postal administrators operated at each of the following USPS locations: New York, Miami and San Juan in Puerto Rico. This strategy expedites mail from the United States to the Caribbean and vice versa, given the tremendous volume of mail between these destinations.

Other agencies

Other allied agencies were integral to the success of such planning. The Jamaica Customs Depart-ment placed additional customs officers to assist in customs inspection to significantly reduce proces-sing time for parcels; the Airports Authority of Jamaica and airlines that operate in Jamaica had special operational guidelines for the duration of the holiday plan, without impinging on security procedures.

Customers are being reminded that by mailing early they contribute to the success of this programme. Corporate entities are asked to note this and should prepare their airmail items by December 8 and all surface items by November 17.