Postal service boss elected to top Carib post

Following the election at the recently concluded 10th Annual Conference of the Caribbean Postal Union (CPU) held in St Vincent from June 12 to 16, Jamaica’s Acting Postmaster General/CEO, Michael Gentles, was elected to the chair of Secretary General of the CPU. He will continue to be based in Jamaica for the duration of the two year term of office. Mrs Loretta Charlemagne, who previously held this position, is now the Universal Postal Union’s (UPU) Regional Advisor to the Caribbean. The UPU is a branch of the United Nations (UN) and is specifically geared towards postal service cooperation via international laws and conventions.

The Secretary General
Among the range of duties, Gentles will: be an advisor to the Caribbean Council of Ministers of Postal Affairs, the Conference and the Management Board; represent the CPU at meetings, conferences and negotiations; prepare the draft annual budget of the CPU and report to the Management Board on the progress of each Task Force’s assignment.

Secretariat
Gentles will oversee the CPU Secretariat, which is comprised of a Secretary General and any other member as decided by the Conference and Management Board. Persons deployed to the Secretariat report directly to the Secretary General.

The functions of the Secretariat are to handle the affairs of the Union, perform special assignments and missions entrusted to it by the Secretary General, as well as to prepare the draft budget of the Union. It also undertakes duties assigned to it by the Management Board through the Secretary General.

Caribbean Postal Union (CPU)
The CPU, one of the nine restricted unions within the Universal Postal Union (UPU), was established in Saint Lucia on 5 September 1997. It is an intergovernmental agency with a membership of 28 countries:
Anguilla, Antigua/Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Dominican Republic, France, Great Britain, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, United States of America, Virgin Islands.

It was formed to: promote international postal cooperation in the spirit and observance of the Acts of the UPU; shape postal service offerings to suit customers’ requirements; facilitate the augmentation of postal service security; and coordinate postal training arrangements.

The CPU operates in accordance with a Convention. The Annual Conference is the supreme organ of the CPU. An Executive Council comprising seven member countries inclusive of the host country is elected during the conference to ensure continuity of the Union’s work.

Michael Gentles (right), Jamaica’s Acting Postmaster General/CEO, at a seminar at the conference of the Caribbean Postal Union (CPU). Gentles was elected to be the CPU’s Secretary General.