Postal service

I refer to the article on Maltapost's possibly losing limited monopoly by 2009 (October 19).

My opinion about this matter is that in 2009 it will be already three years late.

From Maltapost (and I am not generalising but only referring to my own sad experience) I have had a next to slipshod service ever since it started operating.

Gone are the days when mail was a same-day delivery or an otherwise guaranteed next-day one. And please, dear Maltapost, don't come up with the stupid proposition that the amount of mail today has increased. Not with e-mail and internet to help you out.

From Maltapost I have had the following service in the past months:

a. undelivered registered mail, three times (strangely enough all containing cheques).

b. undelivered local mail, mainly WSC and Maltacom bills (the latter charges Lm1 for late payment - so if undelivered I will get to know it only in the next bill). And here I ask myself why should it have to be these two particular firms, which, as it is known, put in the post tens of thousands of bills?

c. an almost daily delivery of an unsolicited load of thrash in publicity material, all haphazardly packed half-way through my letter-box slot alongside with normal mail which, when it rains, end up as a mass of pulp. (Strange, publicity material never goes astray!)

d. mail is often returned to sender because of some petty mistake in the address and the postman/woman is far too pressed to insert all the flyers and couldn't be bothered to go that little bit extra to identify the person concerned. But, of course, with Maltapost you cannot afford mistakes. What Maltapost does, is another, alas, sorry and pitiful matter.