Santa Cruz PO: first 'postshop'

Contributed

The new Santa Cruz Post Office in St. Elizabeth.

JAMAICA'S FIRST 'postshop' was recently established at the new Santa Cruz Post Office in St. Elizabeth.

A postshop is a commercial activity undertaken by an entity other than the post office, within the confines of a postal location. The first postshop is Stamp and More, the only bookstore established in a Jamaican post office, and offers a full range of school and leisure books.

This innovation was introduced to the Jamaican public through the combined efforts of Postmaster General, Dr. Blossom O'Meally-Nelson, and LMH Holdings Chairman Mike Henry.

Mr. Henry said: "LMH Publishing is pleased to partner with Jamaica Post in implementing the innovative concept of postshops. As a publisher, LMH is committed to expanding access to communication of all types. We see Jamaica Post as an integral component in spreading accessibility of educational and leisure reading material to the citizens of Jamaica ."

multi-faceted facility

Dr. O'Meally-Nelson stated: "We had the vision of this post office as being a multi-faceted facility, offering a range of services to the community that will bring them inside to do business.

"This postshop (a bookstore) is the first, and we will eventually expand the building upstairs and earn from the rental by accommodating small businesses. This will significantly reduce our operational overhead costs. Such is the arena within which the modern, commercialised post office will operate," Dr. O'Meally-Nelson said.

The new facility is air-conditioned, with ample lobby space for marketing promotions (for prescribed periods) by community members. With a total floor area of over 3,800 sq ft (approximately 420 sq metres), the new building was built at a cost of nearly $20 million, and novel elements such as wheelchair access and private letter boxes (PLBs) are in evidence.

Unlocking the post code - Pt III

Last week, the component comprising the parish was outlined, and we provided a list of the parishes and postal zones. Still using the example of the post code for the Constant Spring area - JMAAW03 - we will now discuss the last component. This is a two-digit number representing each post office on an alphabetical list.

Now, a quick recap. The components are:

n JM for Jamaica

n A for the postal zone

n AW for the parish

n 03 for the post office

The last two digits - in this case 03 - represent the Constant Spring Post Office that starts with the letter 'C'. All post offices in each zone are listed alphabetically. Therefore, in Zone A ( Kingston , St. Andrew and St. Catherine), the St Andrew Post Office listing is as follows:

n Border - JMAAW01,

n Bull Bay - JMAAW02,

n Constant Spring - JMAAW03

n Cross Roads - JMAAW04

and so on to the end of the list: Woodford- JMAAW23.

The alphabetical list for St Catherine starts at Above Rocks - JMACE01 and continues to Waterford - JMACE27. This format is applied to all parishes.

In next week's Jamaica Post feature, an overview will be presented with a diagram to assist our readers. We welcome your feedback. You can contact us toll-free at 1-888-JAMPOST (1-888-526-7678), or by email postcorp_admin@colis.com.