Post office's responsibility

First, I would like to commend the Indonesian Postal Service for their generally reliable performance. It has been noted, particularly by international correspondents, that vast improvements in service have taken place in recent years.

However, I find myself in the grip of a situation which under normal conditions should not present much of a problem. But it is proving to be quite a conundrum.

Four months ago, on April 8, 1997, two packages were sent from Australia to Purwakarta, West Java. Unfortunately, although all other details of the address were written in full -- street name and number, suburb, numbers of the RT. and RW., area code, West Java and country -- the name of the town (Purwakarta) was omitted.

In my experience, undelivered mail anywhere in the world is returned to the sender. In this case, four months after the date the packages were sent, they have not appeared here or at the address of the sender.

I have inquired at the post office in Purwakarta and shown photocopied details of the packages that were sent from a post office in Australia, alas without success.

The local post office claims to have contacted the G.P.O. in Bandung, but received no reply. Further inquiries regarding how I could extend my search for the packages resulted in a "hands up" response.

I have three questions I would like to address to the Indonesian Postal Service:

1. How do I find my packages?

2. What is the point of using area codes if they are ignored during the delivery process?

3. Why is such a lack of responsibility prevalent in the postal service when a problem like this occurs?

J.K. THOMAS

Purwakarta, West Java