POST FIJI CEO MESSAGE ON 150 YEARS
We are extremely proud to be part of this 150th years of long journey of Postal services in Fiji. It is sesquicentennial of 150 years proud journey for postal services, where Post Fiji was giving extra ordinary services to community of Fiji. Even when we come to think of it, Post Fiji’s 150th journey is extremely long. Many Generations have passed this long journey of 150 years.
On 2nd December 1871, legislative assembly passed a postal act to establish a Government run postal service. Later Cakabou Government established a postal monopoly by the 1871 act. Mr J. M. Haslett was the first Chief Postmaster and controlled 17 post offices. From this modest beginning, the postal services in Fiji in 1971 had 170 post offices and postal agencies that served all the major towns and villages of Fiji Islands.
It is interesting to know, in year 1871, letters in transit period took weeks to months for deliveries. But in 1971, which is after 100 years; letters and merchandising started reaching consumer hands in weeks’ time from anywhere in the world, thanks to Airlines.
The Department of Posts and Telecommunication catered the services for long period and eventually separated. The postal services brought community in large closer to the organisation and its frontline postal staff.
Apart from this interesting fact, it is also interesting to know, the old capital of Fiji, Levuka, was the first one considered as unofficial postal delivery centre. Pigeons were trained here to deliver and pick up letters, shipping news and general messages from Levuka to Suva and return.
These pigeons as carriers of messages is old ancient Persians who were known to have perfected the art of training birds. It was said the romans used pigeon messengers to aid their military over 2000 years ago. Research further revealed Julius Caesar once used pigeons as messengers and Greeks sent the names of their victors at the Olympic Games to their various cities by using pigeons. You still can see the Pigeon Post site marked by a non-descript drinking fountain in the centre of road in Levuka.
During this long journey, so many generations of people worked and utilised the services of Post Fiji. People after people created a strong foundation of Post Fiji. Every generation, every year, every month, there was a new team, who built strong foundation of Post Fiji during this 150 year of Journey.
This is the time to salute all our ancestors, retired staff, executive management team, various board directors, various board chairman, MD and CEOs, our suppliers, shipping services, airlines, rural community who are using our services as one of the loyal customers, our postal agencies in rural community for a decade who worked really hard and sincerely to let this great institute run and allow us to work with comfort
and ensured Postal services are delivered to community in large.
Today, all their sacrifices, hard work, ability to deliver postal services is where Post Fiji current generations are working on to make the foundation more resilient. We sincerely appreciate their sacrifices, contribution, commitment and support to keep postal services going and we are humbled with their immense contribution and we salute their sacrifices.
Without their sacrifices and hard work, we today’s generation won’t be in this situation to get the rooted postal services of Post Fiji. We are sincerely grateful and humbled by their solid foundation created for all of us.
To mark our gratitude for all our Ex Post Fiji family, we are celebrating their existence and good work in the month of December 2021. As generation pass; the baton of business transfer from one team to another. We all have specific term to perform and build some solid blocks for next generations.
Our 150th Celebration of postal services initiated for 1 week, where we initiated various events like acknowledging the long serving staff, retired staff, community work, charity work, visiting customers and acknowledging their services.
Survival during pandemic
During this COVID 19 Pandemic, Post Fiji revenue declined and situation was extremely challenging. We started facing tough situation in terms of extreme reduced revenue.
With the closure of international borders, our mails, parcels, ems and e-packets stopped coming. Our customers could not send their merchandise and mails to overseas. This has really put us in difficult business sustainability issue. Generally, an organisation takes strategies to terminate contract, reduce hours, request staff to take leave, reduce days etc.
However, we at Post Fiji ensured, no staff employment contract has been terminated, no reduced days or no reduced hours, Post Fiji paid staff during isolation and also during positive cases in full and regular salary
income.
This helped our staff to sustain and come on work with positive mind set and continue giving great postal services.
Adapting with technology
As time moves, the style of communication in commercial to individual communication has drastically changed from manual driven to technology driven. Today, people are using instant communication with the help of technology.
Postal services have seen the tremendous change in how consumers communicate in today’s world. This has impacted heavily on our business. Postal business as mentioned above is becoming challenging day by day.
The Postal business which was running for 150, 100, 50 or even 20 years back has changed drastically. Digitization is rapidly taking place with the huge role of technology in all our life. People and organisations are moving away from manual driven processes to digitally accepted system and processes.
The rapid change and adoption of digital system and processes is forcing Postal system to adopt the rapid-fire technology driven postal business. Situation is alarming for those organisation, who are not willing to move faster. Today, speed is the new game. If we want to move and be with current trend, society, business and community in large, transformation and technological adaptation is no more luxury but essential element of Postal business.
Hence, with our current operations, Post Fiji is constantly thinking, brainstorming, analyzing to adopt various technological tools ranging from blockchain, machine learning to the crypto technology for our Post money order and EMS courier and logistics business.
Digital innovation
Post Fiji is delivering the postal services for many years. Over a period of time, consumer behaviour changed and digital innovation in various domain with technology like internet, smart phones, applications and artificial intelligence has taken broader market share of communication. This has affected Postal services severely, where our revenue has been declining year after year. COVID 19 pushed postal revenue to decline further.
Despite tough situation; Post Fiji never compromised on delivery of service and excellence in customer service. That’s how we can implement reforms, re-engineering of postal services through modern techniques.
Though digital era is the way forward, we cannot avoid upcoming issues like cybercrime, digital stealing happening all over the world through digital media.
We at Post Fiji feel, it is safer to use traditional media of letter writing and using our Post Money order. We ensure you that, your love letter as well as money transfer will be delivered safely to right person at right place, without any issue of cybercrime, bugs, digital stealing or hacking.
Outlook ahead
Moving forward, we also looking to refurbish all our post shops which were made during colonial time by giving them new look, ease of operation, better sitting facility and use of technology to make the postal and allied products pleasurable and efficient transactions in a timely manner.
We just need your support, help us inform, where we are doing wrong and we assure you all, we will take your concern, issues, suggestion and guidance in truthfully serious.
On this occasion, Post Fiji wishes to take opportunity to thank and congratulate Hon Prime Minister and Government of Fiji for his decisive leadership in safeguarding us from this deadly pandemic COVID-19.
Hon PM’s strict policy of No Jab and No Job really worked very well, where we see, more than 90 % adult population vaccinated in Fiji.
Thank you, Dhanyawad and Vinaka Vakelevu!
This is an excerpt of the speech delivered by Post Fiji chief executive, Anirudha Bansod, during Post Fiji’s 150th anniversary celebrations held on December 18, 2021 at the Vodafone Arena in Suva.