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Post Office re-enforcing existing policy: Present ID to pick up a parcel

A sign at the local US Post Office in Fagatogo informing people picking up their mail that an ID is now needed. However, Samoa News understands the policy is for parcel pickup, not for mail inside PO boxes.   [photo: Leua Aiono-Frost]
blue@samoanews.com

Don’t forget to bring along a valid form of identification the next time you are expecting to pick up a parcel at the local Post Office in Fagatogo.

Last week, some local residents expressed their concerns about why ID cards now have to be presented in order to pick up mail from the Post Office.

Samoa News asked the Post Office for an explanation, as the ‘Notice’ seems to indicate that you have to have an ID to pick up your mail. However, Postmistress Tao Suani explained that it’s directed at parcel pickup.

She said, “With the growing number of incoming parcels, and family members sharing one post office box, it is imperative that we re-enforce existing policies.”

In response to Samoa News queries yesterday morning, Suani clarified, “PO Boxes do not belong to the family, but belong to the registered holders.”

She said, “Following this policy will help us to maintain the safety and security of the mail.”

Over the past years, anybody was able to pick up a parcel at the Post Office, as long as they presented one of those little yellow cards that are placed in their PO Boxes, indicating the date the package was received, the PO Box number, and where exactly in the Post Office it is located.

Samoa News understands that there have been times that ‘yellow card notices’ have been unintentionally placed in the wrong PO Box and as a result, anyone who gets the yellow card — whether the parcel is intended for them or not — could claim the package.

Sometimes addresses could be misread, leading to packages being delivered to people they don’t belong to.

Also, with the recent crack down on the transporting of drugs into the territory through the mail system, people claiming packages found to contain illegal substances are usually let go after they are apprehended because, among other things, the name on the package is not theirs, making it hard to prove “intent” and “knowledge”.

The claim is usually the same: “I was just picking it up for someone else,” or “I didn’t know anything. I just got a yellow card in my mailbox.”

There are those who are against the new requirement, claiming that it will be a burden, having to personally pick up a package, when someone else – like their children or spouse can do it for them.

The ‘re-enforced’ requirement, however, offers a sense of security for some who are now reassured that their mail (parcel) will only be delivered to them, and not anyone else.

“We thank our customers for their understanding and cooperation,” Suani said.