The Terras do Infante Association of Municipalities, the group of three west coast Councils led by Aljezur’s disgraced former mayor, José Amarelhino, has made public its "most vehement repudiation" of the planned 2019 closures of the post offices in Sagres and Praia da Luz.
This decision, according to Vila do Bispo, Lagos and Aljezur’s mayors, 'goes against the interests of the populations concerned, given that they are services close to customers and are particularly vital to the aging population as well as to tourists and foreign residents.”
"The Association requires CTT's management to keep these Post Offices open and serving the population and so, today, urgently has requested a meeting with the company to express its position."
According to the Association, these closure decisions prove that the 2014, “100% privatisation of the Post Office by the former PSD / CDS coalition government was a gross error which now threatens social cohesion.”
"In the same way, the present government, although CTT now is a private company, has a moral and political obligation to involve itself in the defence of the Universal Public Service element and we will be expressing our position and discomfort with the announced decisions," reads the statement from the Terras do Infante Association.
Last Friday, locals in Praia da Luz heard that their local Post Office was scheduled to close in 2019. No alternative service has been announced by CTT, so the expectation is that customers will have to use the already overburdened main branch in Lagos which, for those required to move the Apartado boxes from Luz, already has a long waiting list for available PO boxes.
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CTT's response to an algarvedailynews enquiry about store closures, reads as follows:
"CTT has been strengthening access points throughout the country, maintaining the relationship of proximity with the population and ensuring that the needs of the clients are assured.
"We now have 2,392 Access Points, that’s 75 more CTT Access Points compared to 2014, the year of privatisation. More than 100,000 customers a day use these outlets.
"CTT Access Points are opening at a faster rate than Post Offices are closing.
"These solutions aim always to provide a better overall quality in the services that CTT provides and to ensure the provision of the public service such as the payment of social benefits, delivery of warnings and the payment of invoices, have the advantage of being more convenient for the population.
"This retail network maintains a strong presence and proximity to the populations and, through the association with partners, this network contributes to the development of the local economy."
The link http://www.ctt.pt/feapl_2/app/open/stationSearch/stationSearch.jspx shows all current outlets.
See:
Locals in uproar - Praia da Luz Post Office to shut
