MINISTRY TO FASHION OUT NEW POSTAL POLICY (PAGE 32)

The Ministry of Communications is fashioning a new national postal policy to bridge the digital divide existing between the rural and urban areas of the country for rapid development.
The national postal policy which would incorporate ICT into the postal service is aimed at positioning the postal industry to be a powerful source of social cohesion.
Mr Benjamin Aggrey Ntim, Minister of Communications, who disclosed this said apart from the postal industry being a key lever in economic and social development, it could be used to facilitate trade, commerce and communication in rural and urban areas.
He said the government would like to see that financial services were extended to every part of the country, and that the new postal policy would include the various models that would enable the national postal provider to offer quality financial services to citizens in the low income bracket.
He said the national postal policy would therefore make it mandatory for the postal services and courier industry to embrace the use of ICT at all levels as a new source for the creation of quality jobs as well as rapid economic development and prosperity.
Mr Ntim who opened a workshop to deliberate on the national postal policy said the advantages of a modernised postal service were so huge that the government would not stand aloof for the industry to die because of rapid changes in communications technology.
He explained that world wide socio-economic trends such as globalisation liberalisation, privatisation and competition posed multi-dimensional challenges to the postal industry.
Mr Ntim whose address was read on his behalf by the Chief Director of the Ministry of Communications, Mr Kwaku Ofosu-Adarkwa, said however that the emerging information and knowledge was generating opportunities in developed and developing countries.
He, therefore, urged the participants to endeavour to come up with suggestions that would address the needs of the rural populace who required support and training to communicate.
The minister said the government also owed it a duty and a responsibility to cater for the needs of the physically challenged in all policy processes so that the inputs of these segment of the society would make the national postal policy stand the test of time.
He said other areas worth looking at by the participants at the workshop also included promoting universal access to postal facilities as well as recognition for the protection of the rights of consumers and citizens, especially consumer requirement for quality of service delivery.
He said the policy would also seek to encourage private investment so as to improve the postal services and infrastructure in the country by promoting competition in the sector as a way to improve quality of service through innovations and the introduction of new postal products on the market.
Mr Raymond Cudjoe, a legal practitioner who chaired the function, said an efficient postal system would ensure that rural dwellers were not left out in the e-commerce world.
He said the postal service because of its physical presence in the rural areas provided an infrastructure in facilitating the rural urban digital divide.
Mr Cudjoe explained that the e-commerce platform when linked to an efficient postal infrastructure could deliver items purchased in the urban centres to a person in the rural areas of the country.