Postal ‘Black Hole’

I WOULD like to take up the point that one of your readers expressed in last week’s The Namibian.

Just what exactly DOES happen to parcels that are sent to this country from the rest of the world? There seems to be some kind of ‘black hole’ that anything vaguely ‘interesting looking’ gets sucked into. Like your other reader, I was sent no less that SIX parcels between mid-May and early June to celebrate the birth of my first baby.All of these were from the UK, and one was from Canada.All were sent by airmail and were registered.I have been into NamPost main office to complain about this.They were very friendly and helpful, but I have yet to receive a satisfactory response.Since telling others about my problem with the missing parcels, I have had many comments such as ‘You should tell people living abroad NEVER to send you parcels to Namibia!’ and ‘Don’t you know that anything in a parcel to Namibia is opened and stolen’.Now, coming from the UK, I am all too familiar with a postal system that is 100% reliable, but really – isn’t it a shame that people in Namibia are learning not to trust the postal system or its workers here? I want to believe that everyone who works on the parcel route between Europe and Namibia is honest, but I am sure that this would just be naive of me.I realise that it is difficult for such large-scale operations to ensure that every package is delivered safe and sound – but I mean really! SIX parcels – ALL missing – posted 10 weeks ago!! You cant help but begin to feel very suspicious and wonder if NamPost and their foreign postal partners are really doing their best to ensure that any malpractice or corruption is truly being stamped out! My letters from the UK always arrive within 10 working days.No problem there.Perhaps they are not as ‘interesting looking’… Bizarrely it is just the parcels..Perhaps I should not be suspicious and believe that there is a dusty corner somewhere in the Universe where all parcels sent to Namibia congregate until someone remembers that they need to be delivered.I live in hope.Ms C Longden Klein WIndhoekLike your other reader, I was sent no less that SIX parcels between mid-May and early June to celebrate the birth of my first baby.All of these were from the UK, and one was from Canada.All were sent by airmail and were registered.I have been into NamPost main office to complain about this.They were very friendly and helpful, but I have yet to receive a satisfactory response.Since telling others about my problem with the missing parcels, I have had many comments such as ‘You should tell people living abroad NEVER to send you parcels to Namibia!’ and ‘Don’t you know that anything in a parcel to Namibia is opened and stolen’.Now, coming from the UK, I am all too familiar with a postal system that is 100% reliable, but really – isn’t it a shame that people in Namibia are learning not to trust the postal system or its workers here? I want to believe that everyone who works on the parcel route between Europe and Namibia is honest, but I am sure that this would just be naive of me.I realise that it is difficult for such large-scale operations to ensure that every package is delivered safe and sound – but I mean really! SIX parcels – ALL missing – posted 10 weeks ago!! You cant help but begin to feel very suspicious and wonder if NamPost and their foreign postal partners are really doing their best to ensure that any malpractice or corruption is truly being stamped out! My letters from the UK always arrive within 10 working days.No problem there.Perhaps they are not as ‘interesting looking’… Bizarrely it is just the parcels..Perhaps I should not be suspicious and believe that there is a dusty corner somewhere in the Universe where all parcels sent to Namibia congregate until someone remembers that they need to be delivered.I live in hope.Ms C Longden Klein WIndhoek