Postmaster General Angel Banda has said the Malawi Posts Corporation (MPC) has not stopped offering bus services; “rather, we are only hiring the buses out”.
She said this in Mwanza District on Friday, when she attended commemorations marking World Postal Day.
“Bus service tasiya yonyamula anthu kuchoka Ntcheu, Dedza, Mzimba ndi malo ena koma mahayala tikupangabe [we have just stopped offering commuter services, which we were offering by ferrying people from public depots in, say, Ntcheu, Dedza, Mzimba but we are not completely out of business]. In other words, we are still offering the private bus hire service,” Banda said.
She said they were changing with the times, observing that the postal system was evolving.
“While traditional mail volumes continue to decline, we are evolving to stay relevant. We want, through our extensive physical presence across the country, to align our business to meet the changing needs of our customers.
“We are, in fact, about to embark on a 10-year strategic plan that is focusing on digitisation,” Banda said.
Recently, MPC announced that it had suspended its passenger bus services across the country.
It marked the second time the government-owned firm had halted its bus operations, having also done so last year.
In a written response to The Daily Times recently, Information Minister Moses Kunkuyu said the buses were presenting more challenges than benefits.
“Post buses have been in operation for approximately five years. However, it has become evident that the buses have now aged and, at this stage, they present more challenges than benefits.
“The high maintenance and operating costs associated with the aged fleet have become unsustainable, leading the corporation to rely on revenue from other business units to sustain the passenger service operations,” Kunkuyu said.
“As a result, the post bus business unit has become unprofitable due to these escalating maintenance and operating costs,” Kunkuyu added.
He added that MPC was working to strengthen its courier service in order to maximise revenue.
The minister said, recently, the corporation procured four additional trucks to improve its capacity for moving consignments across the country.
“Furthermore, service delivery and customer experience are being improved through the digitalisation of all processes, which is expected to positively impact revenue generation,” he said.
At that time, economic expert Marvin Banda said the government-owned firms needed to have clear strategies if it were to achieve its set goals.
“Publicly owned companies usually have fundamentals placed within the business operating environment that are sometimes social in nature. This sometimes hampers the ability of companies to make sustainable profits. This is not the case with private entities, which are profit-driven.
“When operating in their business environment, they focus on cost minimisation and revenue generation. So, when public companies are implementing turnaround strategies, they sometimes lack the required expertise to achieve desired goals,” Banda said.
In 2019, MPC embarked on a passenger bus business after obtaining a K700 million bank loan.
However, the business has failed to meet its desired goals.
MPC also suspended its bus services last year, although the buses were seen operating despite the halt.
0 Comments