VZCZCXRO6687
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHMV #1423/01 3541303
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 201303Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY MONROVIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9589
RUEAUSA/US POSTAL SERVICE
INFO RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

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