Minister of Transport Frankie Campbell,  responsible for the General Post Office  and Bahamas Public Services Union President Kimsley Ferguson experienced some friction on yesterday’s decision to allow post office workers  short work days.

This disagreement followed a power outage at the East Street  post office that worsened by the fact that there were no batteries for the building’s backup generator. 

The decision was ultimately made to minimize the post office’s operating hours from 8:30 am to noon until further notice, but Mr. Ferguson has an issue with the fact that he was not consulted. 

Minister Campbell said,  “I feel that there is a need to consult if there is a problem that is not being resolved. The matter was being resolved. The Ministry of Works, who is the authority on matters of that nature, was satisfied that it was safe for the people to be there; and I acted based on their advice.”

He added,  “I want to say to the staff at the post office and general public that this minister and this ministry is actively pursuing all possibilities to ensure that they are in a safe environment and that they are able to produce what the public needs.”

The minister further noted that considering the East Hill Street facility  is old, more issues are to be expected. 

He also said, “the questions continue to come, ‘are they going to the new location?’. They will move to the new location once we have taken possession of the building, which we have not done. It is only upon taking possession of the building that we will be able to go in and inspect and do a costing.”

He added, “it  is only after the costing that the work will be done, and it’s only after the work is done that we will move, but I think in earnest people should be satisfied that there is a serious movement towards that, as opposed to where we would have been a year ago, and I’m of the opinion that the president of the union should be happy with where we are.” 

The minister said he cannot  give a specific date on when staff will be able to move to the new post office location.  However he said that the government expects to receive a “letter of possession” any day now.