BY JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ADVERTISING HONOLULU — A tiny post office on a remote Molokai peninsula that’s accessible only by plane or mule has been spared from the U.S. Postal Service’s list of possible closures. The one-woman
BY JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONOLULU — A tiny post office on a remote Molokai peninsula that’s accessible only by plane or mule has been spared from the U.S. Postal Service’s list of possible closures.
The one-woman Kalaupapa office that serves less than 100 residents was on a list of thousands of locations nationwide that are being considered for closure. Residents of the former leprosy settlement were worried losing the post office would cut them off from communication in an area that has no Internet or cell phone access.
The postal service recognizes the office is a “lifeline” for Kalaupapa, Duke Gonzales, USPS spokesman in Honolulu, said Friday. “We removed Kalaupapa from consideration because it was clear that the post office plays a unique role as a necessary lifeline between the isolated Kalaupapa community and the outside world,” he said.
Hansen’s disease patients were forced into isolation there in 1866, where they were cared for by Father Damien, who became Hawaii’s first saint in 2009, and Mother Marianne Cope, who will be canonized later this year. About a dozen patients still live there since the quarantine was lifted in 1969. The youngest patient is 70. The rest of the residents are mostly National Park Service employees who tend to more than 200 historic structures.
Denying residents access to mail would be extreme, Stephen Prokop, Kalaupapa National Historical Park superintendent, said at the time Kalaupapa’s post office was placed on the possible closure list.
“The residents of Kalaupapa depend on this post office to receive vital medication and other health supplies, and to connect them with the rest of the world, including their families, friends and health care providers,” said U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), who met with the residents about their concerns.
Mail is processed in Honolulu and then flown once a day to the Kalaupapa office, which serves the most isolated population of postal customers in the state. The Kalaupapa office is an example of other historical relationships the postal service has with remote areas, such as a Native American community in the Grand Canyon where mail is delivered by mule.
Two post offices on Oahu and one on Kauai remain on the list of possible closures. No decision will be made until May 15 at the earliest, Gonzales said. In December, the postal service instituted a moratorium on closing any facility prior to May 15 to allow for legislation that would help with financial and operational problems.
No post office will be closed without providing affected customers with alternate ways of accessing mail, Gonzales said.
