By Elizabeth Larkwor Baah
Tema, Sept 28, GNA — Ms. Josephine Nkansah Temanu, the Regional Head, Ghana Post Limited, Accra East, has launched a new logistics service: “School Box”, offering parents and guardians a convenient, fixed-price option for delivery from home to school.
Ms. Temanu said the service, launched on September 22, is designed to make the transportation of students’ personal items easier, particularly for parents and guardians who might find it difficult to travel to deliver such items.
She made this known during a stakeholder engagement organised by the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA).
Ms.Temanu explained that under the service, parents or guardians were required to visit a Ghana Post office and purchase a designated school box, to be used to package the items for delivery to the student’s school adding that customers would be required to declare the contents of the package before it was accepted for delivery because perishable goods were prohibited.
She noted that the school box forms part of Ghana Post’s growing logistics and courier operations as the company expands beyond its traditional role of delivering letters, saying that the company currently provided postal, courier, financial and agency services through its nationwide network of about 360 outlets.
Ms. Temanu said the courier and logistics services include Express Mail Service (EMS), Domestic and International Parcel Delivery, last-mile delivery and door-to-door services, among others.
Ghana Post had also expanded its role in the delivery of secure documents and government services, including passports, driving licenses, bank cards and court processes and has so far delivered more than 190,000 passports to members of the public as part of its nationwide passport delivery service.
However, she identified competition from private courier companies such as DHL, FedEx, local courier firms, transport companies and Okada rider services as some of the challenges affecting its operations and highlighted infrastructure and equipment constraints as well.
At the international level, Ghana Post cited airline availability, international postal restrictions, customs procedures, industrial actions in destination countries, changes in international postal arrangements and security requirements as key challenges.
She explained that delays in the delivery of international parcels were sometimes caused by customs procedures and regulations in destination countries adding that, in some instances, items were returned to Ghana without clear explanations about the reasons for their return.
She said her outfit was ready to collaborate with the TMA and other stakeholders in exploring the establishment of pickup points and other areas of cooperation
GNA
Edited by Laudia Anyorkor Nunoo/Bertha Badu-Agyei
Reporter Elizabeth Larkwor Baah, GNA
Email: [email protected]