Postal service needs upgrading<\/p>\n
Indonesia's postal services badly need upgrading.<\/p>\n
I have been traveling in Indonesia for four months now (with
\nthe necessary detour to another country after the first two
\nmonths) and had beforehand given my friends, family and
\ncolleagues information on when, how and where to send mail to me.
\nI was naive and told them to send letters two to three weeks
\nbefore the dates I was picking up my mail.<\/p>\n
Sometimes it took five weeks to come by air from Denmark to a
\ntown in Indonesia. Sometimes I didn't receive a letter at all.
\nThere are 10 or 15 letters I did not get. My friend learned that
\ntwo packets had been sent to Indonesia, but they were never
\nreceived. One of the packets (a thick letter which contained
\nlicorice) was, according to a friendly employee in Jakarta,
\nforwarded to Ujung Pandang on Aug. 30, 1995.<\/p>\n
Every single place we've been had general delivery addresses
\nand we left written notes about where and when to forward our
\nmail. But still nothing happened. Only one single letter was
\nthankfully forwarded from Banjarmasin to me in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
One letter was addressed to Ternate, Maluku. But it was
\nreceived and kept in Jakarta for some reason. But at least I got
\nit.<\/p>\n
Once I wrote to a couple of post offices and asked them not to
\nreturn my mail even if it meant that they had to keep it for more
\nthan the usual time allowed. I told them what date I would
\ncollect the mail. I addressed the messages to the \"postmaster.\"<\/p>\n
In one of the offices, the letter hadn't been opened. It was
\nlying there with the general delivery mail. It took me about ten
\nminutes to make the person who gave us the box with general
\ndelivery mail understand that the letter was to the office -- not
\nto a person with the surname \"postmaster\" (since then I've been
\nwriting Kepala Kantor Pos instead).<\/p>\n
This is not a complaint over the workers in the post offices
\n-- because the directors, chiefs, kepala or whatever the bosses
\nare called -- bear the responsibility. Please, be sure that the
\nstaff who deal with general delivery mail function properly.<\/p>\n
Some offices work well though, especially the ones in Jakarta.
\nBut others seem to work unsatisfactorily.<\/p>\n
However, apart from that disappointment, I had four wonderful
\nmonths in a stunningly beautiful country. This was my third visit
\nto this country with the most friendly, tolerant, smiling people
\nI've ever met.<\/p>\n
EVA KIRSCHNER<\/p>\n
Denmark<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/postal-service-needs-upgrading-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }