<B>Mystery of missing mail from abroad</B>

From my own experiences and those of my fellow compatriots, posting mail to Mauritius from abroad has always been a spurious affair. At times we have no choice but to post a letter or send a postal order in an envelope to our families in Mauritius at Christmas or on other auspicious occasions. However, in doing so we always harbour the horrible feeling that such mail might get lost in the post (in Mauritius!) and it very often does.

My recent bitter experience which I have to recount refers to an envelope containing important documents which I posted under registered cover from the UK. It eventually went through the post office in the village of Dagotière and the envelope was supposed to be delivered to one of my relatives. Subsequently, he contacted me to say that some of the documents were missing and the envelope appeared to have been tampered with and re-sealed prior to delivery.

It seems it is common practice in Mauritius for postmen (not all of them, I surmise) to open mail and check for and steal bank notes or postal orders. This has apparently turned into a lucrative business amongst some of those postal workers. I have, in the past, addressed a letter of complaint to the Postmaster General who did respond to my complaint and carried out an investigation to some good effect. The postal service remains a vital means of communication despite the huge advances in other forms of communication technology. This failure in the system could be promptly remedied if a firm stand was adopted by those at the top.

<B>Coosraj SUNASSEE, UK</B>