{"id":10731,"date":"2019-10-11T10:05:46","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T15:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev?p=10731"},"modified":"2019-10-11T09:56:32","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T14:56:32","slug":"postal-service-still-struggling-to-recover-from-irma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/postal-service-still-struggling-to-recover-from-irma\/","title":{"rendered":"Postal service still struggling to recover from Irma"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the 2017 hurricanes the BVI Post suffered damage to all of its locations, including letterboxes, and the recovery has been an ongoing struggle, Postmaster General Pascha Stoutt told legislators during Standing Finance Committee deliberations in April.<\/p>\n

As a result, she said, all staff members from across Tortola were reassigned to the Road Town office, where she said conditions were \u201cinappropriate,\u201d according to a report on the closed-door SFC proceedings.<\/p>\n

All mail was being collected, sorted and distributed to customers at the central location as well, she said, adding that a Cabinet paper had been drafted regarding the procurement of new letterboxes and the waiving of the tender process.<\/p>\n

Letterboxes<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration Minister Vincent Wheatley inquired about a statement in Ms. Stoutt\u2019s presentation indicating that the letterboxes for Anegada and for North Sound and The Valley in Virgin Gorda would be installed in 2021, and asked whether there were already any letterboxes at those locations and whether the installations would be upgrades.<\/p>\n

Ms. Stoutt replied that letterboxes were being \u201cinstalled in three phases,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n

Third District Representative Julian Fraser also asked about the letterboxes at Sea Cows Bay and the former post office in Road Town, to which Ms. Stoutt responded that the letterboxes for SCB would be installed during \u201cPhase Two\u201d of the project.<\/p>\n

She also said the former location in Road Town was not safe to enter because of structural and mould issues, and added that the letterboxes there were outdated and that the keys needed to open them are no longer manufactured.<\/p>\n

Junior Minister for Tourism Shreen Flax-Charles asked about the construction project that was being undertaken at the letterbox location in Road Town near Scotiabank, noting that the way the area was boarded up at the time posed safety concerns by forcing pedestrians to walk into traffic. Ms. Flax-Charles asked Ms. Stoutt who was responsible for boarding up the area, but the SFC report did not include Ms. Stoutt\u2019s response.<\/p>\n

Finance<\/strong><\/h5>\n

When Mr. Fraser pressed Ms. Stoutt on the delay in restoring the letterboxes, she cited a lack of funding and resources.<\/p>\n

She also said that the BVI Post needed a cost accountant to ensure that the costs of delivering and processing mail were \u201cadequately covered.\u201d<\/p>\n

Financial Secretary Glenroy Forbes said that $377,000 had been allocated in the department\u2019s 2019 budget to purchase and maintain letterboxes, and that $119,000 had been allocated in the 2018 budget for this purpose as well.<\/p>\n

Ms. Stoutt also stated that the 2018 budget \u2014 in which 64 percent of funding went towards personal emoluments, 23 percent went towards contractual agreements and 13 percent went towards operational expenses \u2014 was \u201cnot feasible,\u201d but the SFC report did not state if she specified any suggested changes.<\/p>\n

The budget estimates suggest that the office\u2019s overall budget remained about the same this year: The 2018 estimate was $3,155,809, versus $3,104,860 for 2019.<\/p>\n

US proposal<\/strong><\/h5>\n

\u2026 more<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image:\u00a0 Pixabay (Pexels<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the 2017 hurricanes the BVI Post suffered damage to all of its locations, including letterboxes, and the recovery has been an ongoing struggle, Postmaster General Pascha Stoutt told legislators…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":10732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[112],"tags":[75,190],"class_list":["post-10731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-newsdevelopments","tag-british-virgin-islands","tag-construction"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Close-up-envelopes-stamps-mail-Pixabay-Pexels.jpg?fit=1024%2C704&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6u9Qa-2N5","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21542,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/bahamas-struggling-with-the-execution-in-corruption-fight-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":10731,"position":0},"title":"Bahamas \u2018Struggling With The Execution\u2019 In Corruption Fight","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"April 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Bahamas \u00a0 The Bahamas is \u201cstruggling with the execution\u201d of anti-corruption safeguards, governance reformers are warning, with accountability and transparency \u201caspirational\u201d rather than real concepts. 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