Robert Allen, the new Postmaster on St. Thomas, says things have gotten better since he arrived from New Jersey a month ago. "I have already had phone calls remarking on the improved service (on St. John)," he told the St. John Source. His claim was challenged by Cidney Hamling, owner of Connections. "In the past six months it has steadily gotten worse," she said. Priority mail is delivered after two or three weeks, and one Saturday two weeks ago, she said 10 mail bags and boxes arrived, containing December and January magazines.
Postmaster Allen, a 20 year veteran of the Postal Service, said he observed operations during his first three weeks. Now, he has developed recommendations and forwarded to his supervisor, on Puerto Rico. "The problem here is logistics," he said. St. Thomas district mail is routed through Jacksonville, Fla., then to Puerto Rico, and then to St. Thomas. However, it is not sorted on the big island, something Allen thinks should be done. "One sorting machine can do the work of 100 individuals," he told the Source.