A resident of Kagman has decided to open the first post office in the area.
In a telephone interview, Jesse Torres said with the distance of Kagman from Garapan, it requires much time for Kagman residents to pay bills, send or pick up their mail.
“I’ve toyed up with the idea for over a year to make it convenient not only for Kagman residents but for the neighboring villages, too,” Torres said.
Torres said he opened Kagman’s first post office in Oct. 13, with 300 residential post office boxes and 100 commercial boxes. He said that about 40 of the boxes have been rented out.
More residential boxes are available for rent at $10 a month, and commercial boxes at $15 a month.
“Kagman residents would be spared of having to spend gasoline and they can save time because they don’t have to go to Garapan to pay their PTI, CUC and other bills,” Torres said.
He added that one trip to Garapan would be enough to pay for a month’s rental of a post office box.
Torres said the post office, located between Kevin’s Video and Cool Laundry in Kagman’s commercial district, is the only locally owned establishment in the village.
Torres said the post office also offers scanning, photo copying and fax services to the customers.
He said he is working to finalize plans to have the first Western Union branch in Kagman to cater to the needs of the residents.
“Hopefully, I can get everything ironed out before Christmas so the residents here won’t have to go all the way to Garapan for their transactions,” Torres said.
He added that very soon, they will be doing mail deliveries to homes in Kagman.
He added that his online “balutanbox” —www.balutanbox.com — business triggered his interest in opening a post office.
“I learned everything there is to know about postal services as I am sending a lot of boxes containing CNMI goods like souvenir items, crafts, snacks, liquor, and other island delicacies to people who order them from other parts of the world,” he said.
The post office customer service is open from 10 am to 6 p.m. while the main post office opens at 7:30 am to 9 pm seven days a week. For inquiries, call Torres at 256-7678.
