Basseterre, St. Kitts, September 02, 2016 (SKNIS): A new postal code system that is expected to make the mailing system more efficient will be launched in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis by the Minister with responsibility for Post, the Honourable Ian Patches Liburd, on World Post Day, which is celebrated worldwide on October 09 annually.
On Wednesday’s (August 31) edition of “Working for You”, Wendell Wattley, Postal Consultant to the Postmaster General, used the occasion to sensitize the public on the system.
“St. Kitts and Nevis’ Postal Code System basically is established to ensure that the delivery of customer mails is made more efficiently,” said the Postal Consultant. “The postal code is often referred to as a post code or ZIP code. It is an essential part of a postal address. It is a unique identifier that identifies an addressee’s location and assists in the transmission, sorting and delivery of mail items. A postal code usually consists of a sequence of letters and numbers, or numbers only. In the case of St. Kitts and Nevis’ postcode, it will have an alphanumeric system which is numbers and letters.”
Mr. Wattley stated that despite the Federation being relatively small in comparison to countless other countries, a postal code system is needed, as it allows for a number of persons and organizations to benefit significantly.
“For example, in the private sector, the [organizations] such as Federal Express (FedEx), DHL and some of the financial institutions and businesses will be able to get their bulk mailing system easily delivered,” he said, while noting that the public sector also stands to benefit. “In addition to that, those universities that are established on St. Kitts and Nevis would benefit from that Postal Code System as well.”
The Postal Consultant explains how the system operates and how it looks in the case of St. Kitts and Nevis. He noted that “each segment of the postal code, when read from left to right provides step by step information regarding the destination of the mail item”. He said the post code narrows down an item’s destination to a small geographic area.
He explains that persons need to use a postal code even though they would have been receiving mails in the absence of such system.
“In addition to being able to efficiently deliver mails within the postal system, you also have a situation where people have been asking for a zip code or a postal code when they are involved in transactions,” he said. “Now persons can provide a proper code to those who request within the business and when they are doing and buying business in particular. In addition to that, there is more order placed on the persons who are actually sending mails whether it is parcels or small packages. Within the sorting of mails, if someone does not put the full address, the persons sorting mails can easily determine from the postal code which area that mail is supposed to be going to.”
Mr. Wattley is encouraging all to visit the following websites to become familiar with the Postal Code System before the official launch on October 09: www.gov.kn,www.sknis.kn and www.niagov.com.
