Millions of letters overwhelm Central Post Office
Millions of letters overwhelm Central Post Office
JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta's Central Post Office has increased operations to deal with the millions of letters mailed to and from Jakarta ahead of Christmas and New Year.
The post office head, Winarto, said yesterday that 4,853,000 letters were sent from the post office this month, or 12 percent more than last year, while the number of letters that have arrived at the office in December so far is 4,227,369, or 13 percent more than that of last year.
The number of postal packages sent from the post office increased 54 percent from 5,906 to 6,244 packages while the post office has received only 3,761 packages, 47 percent less than last year.
The number of postal checks sent through the post office increased by 16 percent from 9,522, worth Rp 985.58 million, to 9,864 checks, worth Rp 1.1 billion. The number of postal checks received through the post office increased by 21 percent from 2,917, worth Rp 258.23 million, to 3,050 checks, worth Rp 282.75 million.
Winarto said his office has taking several steps, including hiring 84 temporary employees, adding to the number of counters, prolonging hours of operation and delaying employees' annual leave. "All employees are on this month," he said. The temporary employees, including high school students, are in charge of sorting out the letters. They each gets Rp 5,000 daily.
Winarto said that all workers work over time because the post office is open until 10 p.m. while normally it is opened until 8 p.m. from 7 a.m.
He said that the number of counters has also increased from 26 to 42, including two counters for electronic mail service.
"The steps have been taken to give the best services to the public by delivering the letters on time," he said.
To deliver the letters the office has decided to use retired mailmen.
"Retired mailmen are hired because they know the city areas very well," he said.
This year's Christmas and New Year season is not as busy as that of last year for cards painters operating in Pasar Baru shopping center in Central Jakarta, in front of the Central Post Office.
They complain about a drop in customer numbers.
Muhidin Andi, one of them said; "Many of them enjoy watching us painting, but don't buy our works."
Muhidin said some of the painters once collected Rp 200,000 a day, but sometimes they spent whole days without a single buyer.
The painters sell the cards at Rp 4,000 each and they get an average of Rp 20,000 daily each. "We spend Rp 12,500 on transportation and lunch," Muhidin said.
Muhidin said that besides greeting cards, they also take face painting orders. The black and white painting on a 80 times 60 centimeters paper cost Rp 50,000 each.
He said, however, that companies, hotels, and banks have placed orders for greeting cards, certificates or logos. (03)