Mail expected to increase by 50%

JAKARTA (JP): The amount of mail sent by residents of Greater Jakarta is expected to increase by 50 percent during the upcoming Christmas and Idul Fitri holidays, an official at the state-owned mail service company PT Pos Indonesia said on Friday.

The company's regional secretary for Greater Jakarta, Baharuddin, said the increase during this holiday season was higher than previous years because the two holidays would be celebrated at almost the same time.

"Approaching a new year, the number of mail in Greater Jakarta usually only increases by 30 to 40 percent," Baharuddin told The Jakarta Post during an interview at his office.

He said that, on average, 13 million letters and 630,000 packages are sent by people living in Greater Jakarta every month, 30 percent of which is sent to other destinations, also within Greater Jakarta.

To ensure that mail arrives at its destination on time during this holiday season, Baharuddin said, the company had made arrangements with state-owned airline company PT Garuda Indonesia, state-owned sea transportation company PT Pelni and state-owned land transportation company PN Damri for the use of additional services.

"We have to make sure that we give good service to customers since we are now facing competition from our rival companies such as FedEx, TNT and UPS," Baharuddin said.

However, Baharuddin said that he could not guarantee all mail would be delivered on time during this holiday season.

"Even during non-holiday periods there is mail delivered late due to several factors," Baharuddin said.

He said there had been many instances when land transportation used by the company was delayed by traffic congestion at the crossing ports of Merak in Banten and Bakauheni in Lampung.

However, Baharuddin said that the company had already made a plan to optimize its service to the public this season.

He said that most employees at the company would still be working during the holidays.

There are approximately 6,000 employees currently working in the regional office.

"They already understand this condition since this is the time when the company is making more money," Baharuddin said.

Baharuddin added that all 344 large trucks and 1,945 motorcycles owned by the company's regional offices would be operational during this holiday season. (jaw)