The new postal regulations come into effect today. They require post office boxes to be numbered, labelled and placed as close to the main road as possible. But are residents ready?

The Royal Gazette spoke to several residents yesterday to learn what they had done to prepare for the change in rules the Bermuda Post Office has stated that non-compliance will result in non-delivery of mail.

Here, residents explain their various points of view on the regulations from those who were proactive about changing their mailboxes to those who left it for others to take care of. Some were happy with the idea of improved mail delivery, but one business owner voiced concerns over the limited time to comply.

LaQuitta Minors, 57, who works as a housekeeper admits she hadn't done anything yet, but planned to create her own mailbox to save on money.

She said: "What I am going to do is take a five gallon paint pail and put four big holes in it, put the top back on it and there's my mailbox.

"Then I'm going to put stickers over it. I saw it in [an issue of] 'House & Garden Magazine'.

"I am not going to spend any money," Ms Minors added.

Rexanne Burns, 52, a tutor at The Reading Clinic had already put the box and new numbers up. She said she has seen other neighbours doing the same and added: "I was just at Masters this morning and they had signs saying they didn't have any mailboxes left, which is interesting."

Alfred Swan, a 60-year-old retiree, put up a mailbox even though he also has a P.O. box. Mr. Swan said: "I think it is a good initiative and hopefully it will expedite mail delivery."

Manager of Kodak Express, David Sousa agreed saying: "My mailbox is up properly named and numbered as regulated by the Bermuda Post Office. Anything that makes the service easier is a good thing."

Thirty-one-year-old administrator at Butterfield, Nigel Turini, has clearly labelled his mailbox with the full address and house number.

He says it is an "excellent idea" and added: "Bermudians have always taken shortcuts with addresses, for example they write Spanish Point, but that's not a real [parish]."

Some people admitted yesterday they still weren't aware of new postal regulations, and a handful of others said they were leaving it up to others, like their spouse or their landlord.

A business owner, who wished to remain anonymous, spoke yesterday of concerns over the new postal regulations.

He said: "Just generally the regulations are poorly conceived and rushed into force. Businesses need to acquire these custom mailboxes that need to be brought in from overseas and some office buildings just don't have the space to install them."

He continued: "Also I have heard from some other business owners when they deal with overseas authorities, like tax authorities and banking regulators, they require a physical address and not just a P.O. address. So even if a firm has a post office box they still have to have mail delivered to their street address."

What have you done to prepare for the change? E-mail news@royalgazette.bm.