YTP wrote:

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I have recentry found that goods sent from overseas to Mw tend to be tampered with and its common to find one or two items missing if at all they get to the destined recipient. Dont or cant we have better measures to safeguard this? One once tried sending goods to a church thinking that was a safe altenative but no-one knows who received them! What do you think?

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That is what the Post Office officials will tell you. “You send with us but we cant guarantee you the safety” people receive parcels from overseas with only the letter which was enclosed! Is it because the pay is low or kungozolowela? I think sending a parcel in a bottle through the sea is much safer than Malawi Post office.

Abuhakim M`chawa

Swedish postal service tracks valuable parcels

The Swedish postal service Posten is using embedded radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in parcels to cut down on internal theft.

Posten, which has its headquarters in Stockholm, is testing the technology on high-value and confidential items such as mobile phones, computer equipment and government documents, as a way of detecting whether they have been tampered with.

Specially-designed cardboard packaging from Swedish technology firm Cypak contains a microscopic chip and embedded RFID circuits that can store information about the package's origin, contents and journey.

Posten uses RFID readers to enter data into the SecurePak parcel before dispatch, and then reads the data when the package has arrived at its destination to check for any suspicious activity.

Sensors detect when a package has been opened, allowing Posten to search back through supply chain data to see where the security breach has occurred.

'There are some people who are not so honest, who are opening packages and taking mobile phones or computers,' said Thord Axelsson, chief security officer at Posten.

'Using Cypak secure boxes or security tape, we can see when someone opens the package.

'There's a time stamp on a microchip which can detect whether a box has been opened or cut using a knife. This makes it much easier for our investigators to go back into the logistics chain and see where the box was at 10.50am.'

Axelsson estimates that the technology could reduce a two- week investigation to just hours.

Encryption systems in the parcel's microchip also mean that information cannot be hacked and sensors cannot be reset.

The postal service is investigating whether the technology can be extended to track mobile phones that have been stolen from packages.

'The next step may be to see how we can use the technology once the box has been opened,' said Axelsson. 'Sensors in the parcel could activate the phone so that it makes a call, or so that we could track it through the phone's GSM.'

Cypak's SecurePak technology is also being tested by Deutsche Post in Germany.

What do you think?

   source: http://www.vnunet.com/articles/print/2135649

YTP wrote:

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abuhakim wrote:

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Maybe it's high time Mw had competition in postal services Where guarantees would be given and delivery would be on a door to door service.......oh no!!! I forgot that we have private addresses [box]at the post office and our mail isnt delivered right at our doorstep!!!! Silly me! For those who are business oriented, having a delivery service would prove very profitable and beneficial cos pple are wary of sending valuables through the post office now. Think about it!!! You cant even send a birthday card to your loved one anymore!! Oh my poor country!!!

-- Edited by YTP at 16:22, 2006-09-26

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that is  agood idea ytp but ukayambila pati ? imagine if  you had  a parcel to lets say  a yamikani banda in  mbayani or chilobwe .that place has no house no nor street names .firstly ,how many yamikani bandas are there in that area alone .....

i can picture this for directions  "yamikani banda ,3 houses from Mr T phiri 's pink house and behind toilet ya a gama ." that would be a hustle init ? it will be costly and a waste of time as well .

i know ,politicians are dying to have there names everywhere in the country ,maybe they can start naming the streets after them  .  no way ...sorry guys ,i take it back cos we will have to change the names every five years depending kuti unduna wapita kwa ndani ...