Postal Services St. Maarten (PSS) is in dire straits (see Tuesday paper) and that’s been the case since its inception. However, continuing to complain about the latter at this point is crying over spilled milk.
One thing that might be a big help is the money transfer business. Unfortunately, the government-owned company was advised by police and the United Postal Union (UPU) to stop this lucrative activity with MoneyGram early last year.
With its main building badly damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017 PSS had been operating out of a small office across the street and this situation was not considered secure enough to continue offering the cash-based service there under the circumstances back then. It turns out this meant having to request a new licence from the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten (CBCS), for which – coincidental or not – new, costly requirements were reportedly set just one month after the service ended.
While the safety issue had been acknowledged in this column at the time, it was also pointed out that an already financially-troubled postal company could hardly do without the badly-needed income involved and management would do well so seek other options. Apparently, no such viable alternative was found, leading to the current call on government to ask CBCS for some leniency in this matter.
PSS understands that rules must be followed, but is asking for a bit more space to work on compliance while allowing the resumption of money-transfer operations with the same provider. Considering the prior existence of a – voluntarily suspended – licence, this request at least on the surface seems not all that unreasonable.
