Geoff and his wife contacted Fethiye Times this week to ask if we knew why post wasn’t being delivered to their home in Arkarca Mah, Fethiye. They had been expecting a very important letter from their bank in France but it never turned up. Despite a trip to the downtown PTT sorting they left none-the-wiser as to the lack of deliveries in their area. So Geoff turned to Fethiye Times to ask if we knew anything.

We met with the couple last Friday outside the PTT and visited the sorting office. The helpful staff said that the postman for the Arcarca area had been on compassionate leave for the last 3 months as his son was unwell. During this time, with no temporary postman put in place, the post has just been left to pile up. However, in the last few weeks they had taken on a temporary postman for 1 day a week. He was trying to work his way through the backlog, but at 1 day a week, was fighting a losing battle.

{mosimage}We saw the backlog of letters for ourselves in the office (see picture) and don’t envy the job that needs to be cleared.

We asked if we could check the backlog for ourselves and see if there were any letters for Geoff in it. But we were told flatly ‘No’, as they were in a specific order.

After much discussion we found out that the ‘best’ way to try to bring pressure on the PTT to get this post delivered and a full time postman on the job would be to organize a petition and get as many neighbours to sign it as possible.

A petition is a very powerful tool for getting the government authorities to do things. From poor power supply, lack of street lights to lack of post, a petition shows that more than one person is affected by the issue and usually gets some sort of positive action. The petition should be translated into formal Turkish and laid out in a specific way. The guys who sit behind the PTT with typewriters are experts at drawing up such documents.

So Geoff and his wife left the PTT with none of their missing post but with a glimmer of hope that they can bring some pressure by getting a petition organised and delivered to the PTT bosses in Fethiye.

As we left the sorting office another British couple were on their way into the sorting office. We asked why they were here and they said someone had seen letters for them in the backlog pile.

So what can you do if you are affected by this problem?

Well the first thing to do is to get a petition organized and get your neighbours to sign it. Hopefully the more people that register their dissatisfaction the more likely the PTT will take some action.

The next is to get any important letters or documents sent to you by private courier or registered post. We know this method costs more but you’ll have a better chance of actually receiving the item sent.

We’ll bring you more news on this saga as it unfolds.