Sri Lankan airmail delivery in disarray

Thousands of letters and parcels from Sri Lanka, destined for different countries, have not reached their destinations on time due to alleged mishandling by a new courier company.

Letters and parcels from Sri Lanka lie at the airport without being delivered. If the situation continues, the government will have to pay millions of rupees in terms of compensation for the delay, postal unions charged.

An investigation has been launched following a number of complaints received from customers who claimed that their parcels were not delivered to the destinations.

It is learnt that the new courier company, with which the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication, has entered into an alleged 'secret agreement' to deliver all airmail, had not delivered the mail on time.

On enquiry, it has been found that cargo shipments are still lying at different airports undelivered. "The cargo lies abandoned in Singapore and Istanbul airports," said Secretary of the Postal and Telecommunication Union, M. Karunamuni. He claimed the company does not know its job.

Karunamuni also claimed the 'secret agreement' entered into is the first step towards privatisation of the Postal Department.

The union had planned to stage a protest on Tuesday, but abandoned the plan following assurance given by the government to look into the matter.

"We demand the secret agreement be cancelled. We also demand that the mail be immediately distributed or be brought back to Colombo and sorted and redistributed," Karunamuni said.

He however added that bringing back the mail to Colombo and delivering them will be quicker as the mail has to be sorted and there are direct flights to Europe and other countries from Sri Lanka. "Otherwise, the government will end up compensating for the delay," he said.

 

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