I refer to Maria Bianco’s letter entitled ‘Snail mail’ (The Sunday Times of Malta, July 24). It is always with regret that we learn of such unfortunate delay.

Maltapost delivers several million untracked letters every year and takes much pride in their timely delivery. We have a solid track record of delivery as evidenced by independent quality of mail delivery results.

Maltapost would like to inform the public that a mail dispatch is sent directly to Canada on a daily basis. A letter destined to Canada arrives in around five to six days.

As per tracking records, the mailbag within which this letter was included arrived in Canada on June 30. Unlike registered mail, since this mail does not have a tracking number, we were unable to see the progression of the delivery of this specific item in Canada.

It is worth noting that only approximately 25 per cent of Canadians throughout all provinces and territories receive their mail directly at their door. All other Canadians receive their mail through centralised delivery, such as community mail boxes, located near their homes. Residents are asked to pick up their mail from a general letter box placed in the area. In this latter case, it is up to the resident to pick up his or her mail.

Again, we sincerely regret this incident and can only hope that the relative has since received the birthday card.