Postal service still standing despite changes in technology

By Shemuel Fanfair

It has been over 230 years since the first post office was established in the territory now known as Guyana and throughout all the years of the service’s existence, letters have been sent and received by thousands of residents. With the advent of electronic mail (email) in the 1990s and its subsequent and continued growth well into the second decade of the 21st Century, many in the advanced world have predicted the demise of the traditional postal service as the primary source of shipping documents and packages.

While a barrage of options now exist as alternatives, like online shopping and electronic cards (e-cards) the Guyana Post Office (GPO) Corporation has remained resilient, even as the dawn of 2017 awaits. The fact remains that vast differences in geography, especially rough terrain in some interior locales, hinder the access to technology for many residents in Guyana. In addition, financial constraints of both Coastlanders and hinterland residents affect their ability access many of the key changes and associate services that technology offers today.

Moreover, tradition plays a major role on why using the postal service remains so popular in Guyana. Let us take e-cards as a case in point. E-cards which bare similarities to greeting cards are created digitally and are paper-free and sent via online platforms. E-cards can be sent to multiple recipients at once and can include photos or video messages.

While tech-savvy citizens, mainly Coastland inhabitants often transfer these cards on social media platforms such as Whatsapp and Facebook, many other residents prefer the tangible cards. In fact, sending physical cards during the Christmas remains so popular that people were earlier this month advised to post their greetings by December 9 so that the cards could arrive on schedule, some two weeks before Christmas actually came.

But while the post office is known mainly for the cards and letters that are sent both locally and overseas, GPO is not limited to just those two.

In fact the local post office has a range of other services it provides to the public: Registration of births, deaths and marriages and posting and uplifting of parcels with varying fees according to weight; postal money orders, sale of revenue and postage stamps; and rental of private letter boxes.

Over the years, GPO has employed various initiatives to ensure its survival amid changing technology. One of the diversified measures are bill payment services for utilities, electricity and water which seeks to reduce the long traditional lines at utility companies. However as Guyanese continue to thrive in the last-minute dash phenomenon, long lines are often seen at post offices, especially GPO’s Georgetown Headquarters. Today the building includes a section of the Guyana Revenue Authority, and many other sections are rented to other businesses.

So all in all, it would seem that the Guyana Post Office is here to stay as it is still standing despite far-reaching changes in technology.

But if one were to take some time and delve into the distant past, one would realise the rich history that postal services possess in Guyana. Michael Rego who penned an article in the BWI Study Circle Bulletin about the history of the GPO in June 2012, said the British Guiana Post Office was housed in the Parliament Buildings when the structure was completed in 1834, when it had been called The Georgetown Packet Office, under the reign of the British.

Historical facts also showed that the post office was then housed in a rented room in the lower flat of the Royal Agricultural & Commercial Society building but in 1901 was moved to the Commissaries Office.

After Hotel Tower was purchased by Governor Alexander Ashmore in 1914, it was converted to the Post Office and remained there until the 1945 Great Fire in Georgetown.

After relocation in February 28, 1945 after the fire to the St Andrew’s School Hall in May 1947, tragedy struck once again as GPO offices at the Regent Hotel were destroyed by fire. After subsequent moves to various other locations, Governor Sir Charles Woolley in 1952 opened GPO Georgetown and Telecoms Office building. This 90-room edifice included a 7-foot diameter Westminster chiming-clock which remains until this day.

Postal services should hold a dear place in the hearts of Guyanese as the 1856 British Guiana One-Cent black magenta is considered the world’s rarest and most famous stamp. It was sold in a New York auction by John E DuPont, for US$935,000 in 1980 but get this, it was sold for a record $9.5 million at a Sotheby’s auction in June 2014.