Letterboxes in Sembawang HDB block left open for hours, disciplinary action to be taken against postman

Letterboxes at Block 128C Canberra Street were left open for several hours on March 14, 2019. PHOTO: COURTESY OF JACK TEO

SINGAPORE - Some letterboxes at a block of Housing Board flats in Sembawang were left open for several hours on Thursday evening (March 14).

A SingPost spokesman said that disciplinary action would be taken against the postman involved in the incident. The employee would also be given extra supervision and additional training.

The postal service provider said that it was alerted at 9pm, and a staff member was immediately dispatched to Block 128C Canberra Street and the letterboxes were locked by 9.25pm.

A resident at Block 128B, Mr Jack Teo, 40, told The Straits Times that his neighbour from Block 128C had found a section of the letterboxes unlocked when she came home from work around 5pm.

He told Chinese-language evening daily Shin Min Daily News that he went to check on the letterboxes around 9pm and they were still unlocked.

Mr Teo, a civil servant, then notified SingPost.

A picture of the unlocked letterboxes showed that 12 units were affected.

"We apologise for this incident and seek the public's understanding as we continue to improve on our service issues," said SingPost's spokesman.

"Mailbox security is a key area that we are looking into as part of our operational review, and we are exploring measures...to prevent such incidents from happening again."

Earlier this year, letterboxes at Block 621 Bedok Reservoir Road were left open for several hours on Feb 8 due to a faulty latch.

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