by John Davis, KUAM News Thursday, September 27, 2007 Subscribe to John's newsfeed   E-mail this article Printable version KUAM Toolbar Web Widgets Get RSS headlines

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First it was an increase in water rates from the Navy for the use of water from the Fena Water Treatment Plant, and now the United States Postal Service has followed suit by canceling home delivery for residents of Ordot, Chalan Pago and Barrigada. Although the USPS cited security and safety concerns as their reason for terminating the service and installing cluster box units at mayor's offices, residents of OCP are saying they were never informed about the stop in home mail delivery.

Chalan Pago resident Marlene Carbullido has been receiving mail at her residence for the last two years, but as she checked her mail Wednesday she received a letter from the USPS informing her that effective October 9 2007, she and the 123 residents of the central village would have to start picking up their mail at the mayor's office. "My concern is that it's even more of a safety issue if you're going to have 123 customers go there every day to pickup their mail," she frustratingly said.

She says those who have been to the Ordot-Chalan Pago Mayor's Office know the location is a high traffic area. She says on top of residents who will frequent this area on a daily basis for mail pickup; residents will also be forced to deal with traffic going in to and coming out of the Ordot Dump, the LeoPalace Resort, daily constituents visiting the mayor's office, as well as trying to squeeze in to the narrow lane before and after school hours. Carbullido adds, if USPS held a village meeting to discuss and address their concerns, maybe there could have been a reasonable resolution.

She continued, "Let's talk about it, don't just give me a letter through the mail and tell me that you're going to stop right away."

As for Mayor's Council of Guam executive director John Blas, he says village mayors are installing CBUs to ensure residents receiving home delivery have a place to pick up their mail. Blas adds the construction of the foundation and installation of cluster boxes are unfunded, leaving mayors to dip into their budget to foot the bill. He explained, "The mayors are going to have to dig in to their budget and make it happen. So again, we're always hoping that we'll get some support from the Legislature or from other sources that need the mayors to coordinate and partner up with them."