BotswanaPost, the mail and universal service delivery outfit, is due to roll-out its mail processing centre that will reposition the company as “an icon of excellence” that will also see it starting some home deliveries.
The new system that will change the phase of the state-owned entity is expected to be rolled-out either at the end of February or early March.
“The Mail Processing Center is complete and it is due to be opened during the first quarter of 2011,” the Chief Executive Officer of BotswanaPost, Pele Moleta, told Sunday Standard on Friday.
He said that the system is currently on trial and they are also ‘showing customers some its benefits’.
“We are also going to pilot with some home delivery,” he said.
The latest developments come at a time when the BotswanaPost declared a loss of P 13 million, according to its 2010 annual report.
However, the company’s asset value shot-up to P 283.5 million from P 262.7 million largely driven by the property and land value.
But this week, Moleta reiterated his stance that part of that loss was incurred because the company wanted to reposition itself against other rivals that might be offering some of their services and also bolster their image.
Next month, the Ministry of Local Government will convene a meeting in Gaborone where it will brief stakeholders about its pilot addressing system, which is also going to be used by BotswanaPost in its home delivery exercise.
The home or door to door delivery exercise will put it at par with other international post offices.
Other developments that were embarked upon by BotswanaPost include what it calls ‘infrastructure optimisation and counter automation system’, which is intended to make transactions with the Post Offices across the country faster and more reliable.
“The Post Offices will be all automated and will be operating on real time,” Moleta said.
Further, the automation is expected to enhance the parcel tracking system and will enable it to effectively compete with some international courier outfits.
Since October last year, 57 post offices were automated and the plan is to get the remaining ones connected within the next three years.
The BotswanaPost’s automation process includes the introduction of internet caf├®’s at its branches.
“All what this means is that transactions will be processed in a quicker and faster way, unlike when we have to enter things manually and fax thereafter,” he added.
