The Qatar Postal Services Company (Q-Post) has announced plans to move one of its branches from the heart of old downtown Doha near Musheireb to C-Ring Road.
The closure of the Abdul Aziz bin Ahmed Street office will be effective Aug. 3, following the Eid al-Fitr holidays.
No reason was given for the relocation, but the branch closure comes as much of the old downtown area around under-construction Musheireb is being cleared and bull-dozed.
The moves leaves residents of Musheireb and old downtown area without a local post office. The next nearest branches are at the New Mansoura Al Meera or Al Muntazah, or the General Post Office just behind the Corniche.
According to Q-Post, a new branch will be set up opposite the Gulf Times and Al Raya newspaper building on C-Ring Road, which already has two sub-post offices nearby – one in the Woqod fuel station at Al Hilal and another at the Teyseer Petrol Station on Al Mater Street.
In addition to the General Post Office, Q-Post runs 37 branch offices across Qatar, many of which are in petrol stations.
Post offices in Qatar are particularly popular here because there is no home delivery service, and many residents get their mail through rented PO Boxes.
However, most post offices have long waiting lists for new boxes.
Waiting for home delivery
Q-Post has previously discussed plans to launch a postal delivery service to homes, inviting Doha-based courier and delivery companies were invited to apply to run the service last October.
The move was being made following the introduction of the Qatar Area Referencing System (QARS) project, under which every home and building in the country will eventually be identified by a unique blue address plate.
Last year, a Q-Post official confirmed that shortlisting of the bidders was expected to take place “imminently” and it was reported in Gulf Times that the service would start by the end of 2013.
However, the home delivery service has yet to become a reality. Still, last month, the idea was touted as a “new horizon” by Q-Post in a Facebook video.
But when asked for an updated timeline on the service rollout, a spokesman recently told Doha News could not confirm a date.
He added that roll-out was awaiting approval from the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning and the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR).
It is believed that the service would initially start in the West Bay area, but eventually be rolled out across Doha.
Thoughts?
