The post office in the Temenice district of Šumperk will remain despite original plans to close it. Šumperk’s management has decided to operate the branch in the Partner Plus mode and cover all operating costs from the town budget. It is estimated to cost up to CZK 1 million per year. The post office will be operated by the municipal company Podniky města Šumperka, Šumperk Mayor Miroslav Adámek (ANO) and Deputy Mayor Karel Hošek (Šumperáci) said. The post office had originally planned to close three of the current four branches in the town by the end of June, leaving only the main post office in the centre open for the town’s nearly 25,000 residents.
“The Temenice branch was a logical choice for us because of the density of population in Temenice, because of the high number of seniors who live there. We have nursing homes, a home for the disabled (…) and the Temenice post office is wheelchair accessible, which is not met by the main post office, which is staying,” said Mayor Adámek. He said the negotiations were not easy, and he sees the faults mainly in the communication of the post office management. At the same time, the city had to act quickly to ensure the continuity and preservation of the branch from 1 July.
Šumperk councillors therefore decided that the company Podniky města Šumperka would conclude a licence agreement with the Czech Post so that the town company could take over the post office and its employees from July. The town received the only possible alternative from the Czech Post to keep the branch in the Posta Partner Plus mode. “The city sees the need to maintain this public service here, so our joint-stock company will operate it,” added deputy mayor Karel Hošek. According to him, it was a difficult decision, because the entire operation will be on the shoulders of the city – it will have to pay the licence fee and rent, which is over half a million crowns a year, plus the postmaster’s salary and other costs, including energy. “It will cost us around CZK 1 million,” the mayor added.
In the Olomouc Region, Prostějov managed to change the list of closed branches, where four of the seven local branches were originally supposed to be closed. However, the town hall has agreed with representatives of the Czech Post to keep the branch in Plumlovská Street, albeit apparently in a limited mode. The operation of the post office in Čechovice will be taken over by the town, which will pay for it from its budget. On the other hand, two of the four branches in Přerov, Trávník and Předmostí, will be permanently closed. According to Lenka Chalupová, a spokesperson for the town hall, the town tried to reverse the post office’s decision, but failed. Přerov does not have the funds to run the branches, which are paid for from its own budget, town hall spokeswoman Lenka Chalupová announced. “We are not surprised, it was also a difficult decision for us,” the mayor of Šumperk said.
The government decided to reduce the number of post offices from 3,200 to 2,900. The reason is to cut costs due to declining postal traffic. The branches will be closed on 30 June.
Source: CTK
