There has been no immediate negative impact on Port-of-Spain businessmen regarding the threat of a stall in the delivery of mail but past hiccups in this area has led to failure in productivity.
Making the statement was Gregory Aboud, president of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA) in light of statements that workers of TTPost were threatening industrial action.
At a press conference by the Postal Workers Union of T&T at the Eastern Main Road, El Dorado, on Wednesday, the union’s president, David Forbes, said workers were fed up and frustrated by the apparent lack of interest from management to ensure workers not only had the tools for their trade but to ensure proper promotional systems were in place.
Forbes also called for an audit into the operations of the company.
However, Aboud said over the past two to three weeks the postal service had become “somewhat regularised.”
He warned that disruptions in such a service would have a critically negative impact of the business sector's efficiency.
“The question of basic services, which includes postal service, continues to be the central cause of our nation's uncompetitiveness and failing productivity.
“It is incomprehensible to imagine that any model in society can expect to survive in the new world order with so much chaos in critical basic services,” Aboud said.
He added that there was a period of time, prior to August of this year, when for “many, many months" the mail service was non-operational, resulting in a tremendous negative impact on the business operations, especially as it related to “time sensitive mail.”
"This included bank statements, details in relation to ‘renewables’ and ‘payables’ and also requirements for payment of quarterly taxes and VAT returns.
“In many cases businesses were forced to collect forms by messenger and submit payments by hand,” Aboud added.
Contacted yesterday, an official of TTPost said the organisation was working to ensure that no one would be adversely affected, especially as the Christmas season was in full swing.
