LIBERIA'S POSTAL SYSTEM GETTING BACK ON TRACK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MONROVIA 001423

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, PM/RSAT AND PM/ISO
POSTAL SERVICE FOR CHIEF INSPECTOR LAZAROFF

E.O. 12598: N/A
TAGS: ECPS EAID MARR MASS MOPS PREL OTRA LI
SUBJECT: LIBERIA'S POSTAL SYSTEM GETTING BACK ON TRACK



1. (SBU) Summary: Liberia's Postal system is struggling to
reconstitute itself after being totally destroyed during the 14-year
civil war. There is strong commitment by the Director General of
Posts to improve service and the just-announced replacement of the
Minister of Post and Telecommunication (MPT) is expected to be a
positive change. During a week-long visit, the Chief Inspector of
the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and his team conducted training and
surveyed security and operations at key Liberian postal facilities.
The U.S. DOD's Africa Partnership Station will deliver donated U.S.
postal equipment to Liberia in March 2008, which could mark the
beginning of ongoing USPS assistance and support for Liberia Post.
We understand there might also be mobile post offices available from
FEMA for donation to Liberia Post. End summary.


2. (U) Alexander Lazaroff, Chief Postal Inspector and Chief
Security Officer for the U.S. Postal Service, accompanied by Oscar
Villanueva, Inspector in Charge, Global Security and International
Liaison and by Shawn Tiller, Inspector in Charge of the Denver
office, visited Liberia December 2-7 to conduct a security
assessment of Liberia's postal system, provide training for postal
inspectors and prepare for delivery of 30 pallets of donated
equipment from USPS. The equipment will arrive in March 2008 as
part of the U.S. Navy's Africa Partnership Station. During his
introductory meeting with the Ambassador, Lazaroff mentioned that he
had tried unsuccessfully to arrange delivery of surplus FEMA
trailers in 2007 for use as post office facilities, but they might
be a possibility on future APS voyages. (The trailers had been
offered to the USPS for bomb detonation practice but Lazaroff
indicated FEMA had refused to release them to USPS for donation to
Liberia.) Radio reporters covered the initial meeting between Chief
Lazaroff and then-MPT Minister Jackson Doe, and there have been
several newspaper articles reporting on the final press conference.


Starting from Scratch
--------------


3. (SBU) The Liberian postal system was completely destroyed during
the 14-year civil war but is crawling back. The ministry building
(and main post office) sheltered refugees during the war and has
been stripped to the concrete frame. Remnants of metal protruding
from the walls indicate where equipment was looted. The delegation
observed the dead-letter pile, containing mail from before the
Liberian civil war. Electricity, including in stairwells, is absent
or spotty. The postal warehouse at the port, situated on the end of
the collapsing main pier, is abandoned and unusable, with a hole in
the floor that goes through to the water. At the airport, MPT
postal officials do not have tarmac access and incoming mail
routinely arrives with items missing. There is no address system
for mail delivery, even in Monrovia. As Chief Lazaroff observed,
Liberia Post lacks even such basic items as tables for sorting the
mail. Although MPT does not have statistics on mail volume, it is
far below that of even the smallest U.S. town and most Liberians are
still unaware the postal system is functioning at all.


4. (SBU) The postal personnel system is in equally rudimentary
condition. There has been no training for 14 years, and personnel
are either new (and occasionally unpaid) or nearing retirement. The
Director General of Posts, a USPS alum, does not control the hiring
and firing of postmasters or other employees and does not have
access to a complete list of postal employees. For the USPS
security training, MPT recruited the cream of the crop -- corralling
as many high school graduates as possible for the two-day training
on basic postal security. The 30 students were enthusiastic and
involved, but had not received any prior training. Some were not
actually on the MPT payroll, saying they worked as volunteer
inspectors. There is no system of ID badges or uniforms. Although
there are some postal employees with pre-war experience, they are
rare, nearing retirement, and worked in a system characterized by
patronage and corruption.

Slight Progress Already, but Much More to Do
--------------


5. (U) The MPT has reopened post offices in five counties and plans
continued expansion. Stamps have been issued, and outgoing
international mail works well. During a lunch hosted by the
Ambassador, both sides were able to review the current status and
future possibilities of Liberia Post. The Director of Security at
the airport, on hearing at the lunch from the U.S. delegation the
problems caused by lack of tarmac access for postal officials, and
learning such access is standard in other countries, acknowledged he
hadn't responded to MPT's request for access but now understood its
importance. He agreed to follow up with the Director General of
Liberia Post.


MONROVIA 00001423 002 OF 002



6. (SBU) The U.S. Marine Corps advance team for the Africa
Partnership Station, visiting at the same time as the USPS team, was
able to survey proposed storage sites for the donated postal
equipment that will be arriving in March. MPT confirmed the GOL
will handle customs exemption procedures and distribution of the
equipment in-country.

Recommendations for Improvement
--------------


7. (SBU) Chief Inspector Lazaroff provided MPT Minister Doe with a
list of both long and short-term recommendations. (Note: We will
pass the list to the incoming Minister, who was designated mid-way
through the visit. End note.) Short term recommendations include
providing employee identification badges and uniforms, creating job
descriptions and standardized procedures (such as affixing stamps in
the customer's presence, not afterwards) and establishing a list of
current equipment and future needs.


8. (SBU) Longer-term recommendations include determining the mail
delivery system best suited to Liberia, creation of a budgeting
process and establishment of an address and zip-code system for
Liberia. More fundamentally, MPT leadership should establish a
concept for the role of the postal system: will it be autonomous,
as in the United States, a subsidized part of the GOL, or a hybrid?

New Minister Greeted with Optimism
--------------


9. (SBU) Mid-way through the visit, President Sirleaf announced that
the current minister of Post and Telecommunications, Jackson Doe,
would be changing jobs with Jeremiah Saluteh, currently Minister of
Transportation. Our contacts agree the change will benefit the
postal service, despite the lack of continuity. The USPS delegation
established strong working relations with the Deputy Minister and
the Director General for Posts, who will continue to have
responsibility for Liberia's postal system.

Comment
--------------


10. (SBU) The visit promises to be the start of ongoing bilateral
cooperation. Chief Inspector Lazaroff observed that the complete
destruction of the postal system will make it easier to rebuild on a
sound foundation, compared to trying to reconstitute a large but
(dys)functional system. He confirmed the USPS should be able to
continue to provide redundant postal equipment at almost no cost if
DoD is able to continue to provide delivery assistance via the
Africa Partnership Station. However, Liberia Post will have to
undertake fundamental management improvements before it is in a
position to really benefit from further training visits.

11 (U) The USPS delegation cleared this message.

Booth