CHRISTIANA, Manchester — In the coming months citizens here and those in adjoining communities spanning four parishes will benefit from a digital hub at the Christiana Post Office.

The announcement was made by national identification system (NIDS) Programme Director Dr Warren Vernon during a tour of the facility recently.

“We are aware of the Government’s thrust to implement several digital services. We do have online the motor vehicle registration programme, but there are still some persons in the rural areas who may not be familiar with it, so now they will be able to come to this digital service centre, receive assistance to complete the forms and we see a lot of opportunities. It is just for us to take Minister [Audrey Marks’] vision, sit down, flesh it out and make this a reality in the next few months,” said Vernon.

Marks, the Member of Parliament for Manchester North Eastern, welcomed the announcement as she said she lobbied for the Christiana Post Office to be renovated.

“We will do a full refurbishing where we can have it being established as a digital hub, e-commerce, and a logistical centre, and this will really open up the services that will be available at the post office,” said Marks, who is also minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister responsible for efficiency, innovation and digital transformation.

“While initially I was looking at the external — we need to beautify all these buildings and restore them — what I am seeing now is that internally there is space for us to do much more and offer many more services to the citizens in this area and I am excited about that,” added Marks.

Postmaster General Lincoln Allen expressed gratitude for the collaborative work to have a NIDS centre established at the location.

“We have started the partnership with NIDS to restore and renovate several post offices. We have in the pipeline 23 locations and it is going quite well, so this would be very good if we can add this as a 24th location… to the benefit of the public and the staff,” said Allen.

“It will increase access to more services which are critical and they are needed, so it is a good thing,” Allen added.

In a quick response Marks confirmed plans to have Christiana added to the list of NIDS centres.

“It is added as the 24th location,” she said, evoking laughter.

“When you see digital services and logistical hubs many people don’t understand what that means to their own lives,” added Marks.

Asked about the areas served by Christiana Post Office, Marks pointed out that scores of citizens depend on the facility.

“The interesting thing about Christiana, [is] it is a commercial point for literally four parishes — Trelawny, Clarendon, St Ann, Manchester — and some persons even come from St Elizabeth, so it is quite a virtual hub right here.

“There is an opportunity to really build out services I know we will cater to a wide market,” declared Marks.

(Video: Kasey Williams)