The Opposition has likened the Bermuda Post Office to a "stagecoach in the era of jet planes" after a Budget briefing on the subject by Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and E-Commerce Michael Scott that showed substantial gaps in the Post Office's revenue and expenditure.

In his brief to the House of Assembly during Monday's Budget debate, Mr. Scott outlined the budget provisions made for the Post Office and the initiatives it has undertaken to improve its service.

"The Post Office has undertaken critical reviews of its business processes and legislation and implemented changes to streamline processes and procedures in its operations to ensure a timely delivery of mail to customers and has also begun the process of identifying and introducing new revenue streams into its operations," said Mr. Scott.

One of the recent changes that the Post Office has implemented was making people move their mailboxes to the edge of their property to make it easier for postal workers to deliver mail.

Mr. Scott added: "In 2009/10 the Bermuda Post Office reviewed The Post Office Act 1900 and the Postal Regulations 1933. The main changes affirmed that houses and buildings must have a visible address number displayed, must have a mailbox located as close as practicable to their boundary, businesses and condominiums require cluster boxes and all mail must be correctly addressed.

"On August 31, 2009, the legislation became operational Mr. Chairman and I am pleased to say that by delivering mail as addressed and having properly located mail boxes, the Post Office can now reduce the amount of time spent on trying to find the recipients of mail and concentrate on a more complete, consistent and accurate delivery Island-wide.

"In September 2009 the Post Office provided a temporary grace period to allow businesses and residents time to relocate their mail boxes to become fully compliant with the new legislation. As of February 2010 over 97 percent of the Island has installed mail boxes and 91percent are in full compliance with the new regulations having mailboxes properly located on their premises and house numbers visible from the entrance."

In his reply to the Minister's brief, Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards said: "As taxpayers we are paying an increased budget for the Post Office of $15.1 million. And the volumes handled by the Post Office continue to fall. It is clear to me that the volumes handled by the Post Office will continue to fall because it is a stage coach in the era of jet planes.

"One of the mantras of business is that the customer is always right. We have a reversed paradigm here with the postal service. It seems to me that the postal service has said to customers 'this is what we want and you will comply' so instead of the customer always being right it appears in this case that the customer is always wrong.

"Instead of changing the postal service to please the customer, the customer has to change to please the postal service. We have been required to move our postal boxes to places that are convenient for the Post Office not to the customers. This seems to me to be ridiculous the customer has to please the provider here.

"There has got to be something fundamentally wrong with a service and I use the word 'service' loosely when the customers have to adjust themselves to the service. On top of this we have the service costing us more and more every year."

UBP MP John Barritt spoke on the Post Office's record of losing money.

"When was the last time that the expenditure came close to the revenue that the Post Office took in?" asked Mr. Barritt. "Recently I went back and looked at the actual expenditure in 2000 and 2001. The expenditure then for the Post Office was $9.7 million and the revenue was $7.8 million.

"In 2002 and 2003 the expenditure went up to $10.2 million and the revenue slipped to $7.4 million. Over those two years you see two opposite directions – we are increasing expenditure and taking in less revenue.

"Last year in 2008 and 2009 the actual expenditure was up to just under $15 million and the revenue source was down to $6.1 million. It is not only going slightly apart it is sharply dividing revenue and expenditure.

"This year we see that we will be spending $15.1 million in expenditure and we are hoping to take in $7.3 million. I say that this is a 'hope' because last year it was projected that the Post Office would take in $7.18 million but only took in 6.8 – there is something seriously wrong here.

"If over the past ten years you were to add up the difference between expenditure and revenue I think it works out to total $48 million including the projection for this year. That is serious money going out the door. We are fighting a losing battle and we really need to think outside of the Post Office box."

In his retort Mr Scott said: "I note the questions raised about how the Post Office regulations have been introduced to benefit the Post Office Staff and not the customer. That is an interesting comment and all members will have understood the rationale for the drive to efficiently deliver mail in the country."