Photo shows some members of the public queuing outside the post office.
KAPIT: Members of the public have called on Pos Malaysia to upgrade the post office here in terms of size and manpower.
At present, some customers can be seen queuing as early as 7am – long before the counters open for business at 8am, and waiting for several hours to complete their transactions.
It is understood that many of the customers use the post office for Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB) transactions, as there is only one bank branch here.
“The situation of overcrowding is getting worse each day. I’ve observed since RHB (Bank) closed down on Dec 17, the crowd keeps on growing – from morning till afternoon,” lamented an office worker, who only wished to be identified as Lieu, who was among those in the queue recently.
“Lack of manpower, it’s too small and too congested.”
Kapit Chinese Chamber of Commerce chairman Datuk Yong Hua Sying agreed that the Kapit Post office was too small and facing a shortage of staff.
“I’ve raised the need to relocate the post office to a bigger building or to rent a shop lot. The other way is to open another office at Bletih new township so that those from Bukit Goram, Antaroh or Sungai Yong could go there.
“The problem is not just a shortage of manpower but also limited space contributing towards congestion. Kapit has some over 60,000 people and yet only two clerks (at the post office). Can you imagine the workload?” he said.
On average, some 200 people use the various services at the post office here daily.
It is manned by one postmaster, two clerks and four postmen, who deal with – on average – 30 gunnysacks of courier items and 12 gunnysacks of parcels and letters daily.