Postal services in Mullaitivu to improve

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 July 2003, 03:33 GMT]
Even in the midst of severe shortages of essential goods and a lack of public transport, the Postal service in Mullaitivu has managed to provide at least 50% of the services it would have provided in normal times, with the support of the Government Agent and the Postal Services workers, the Postal Superintendent for Mullaitivu, Mr. Veerasingham Kumaraguru, said.

In this district, the main Post offices in Mankulam, Oddusuddan, Mulliyavalai, and Mullaitivu and 18 sub-Post offices are operating from their original locations, Mr. Kumaraguru said.

In order to expand the postal services, develop the main post offices and modernize them, the Government Agent for Mullaitivu, Ms. Imelda Sukumar, has obtained Rs. 2 million from the Vanni Rehabilitation Ministry, Mr. Kumaraguru said.

The mail for the Jaffna, Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts are taken from the Vavuniya main post office in postal department vehicles to Kilinochchi, from where the mail to Jaffna and Mullaitivu are delivered by different vehicles of the department, sources said.

The mail thus brought to the main post office in Mullaitivu is then distributed to the regional post offices in Alambil (9 miles away), Mulliyavalai (6 miles away), Puthukudiyiruppu (14 miles away), Visuvamadu (16miles away) and Oddusuddan (10 miles away) by postal workers in bicycles. The postal superintendent said that as there is no public transport in the area, the workers are doing this as a service and there is no extra payment for them.

Attempts are currently being made to arrange transport through vehicles belonging to the Mullaitivu district Fisheries Co-Operative Societies with the assistance of the GA, sources said.

Mr. Kumaraguru said that steps are being taken to operate the sub-Post office in Kokillai, an area where resettlement has not yet commenced, at the Semmalai area.