After years of complaints from territory residents and dwindling levels of service, Virgin Islands Delegate to Congress Donna Christensen brought a multitude of concerns about the U.S. Postal Service to a mail representative in Washington, D.C., last week.

"The complaints don't stop," Christensen said. "And they're not just empty. A lot of them are backed up with paperwork and reports. The people of the Virgin Islands are not getting well served, and it's not getting better."

Christensen has been trying to get a meeting scheduled with D.C.-based postal representatives for months. After several referrals to meet with postal representatives in Puerto Rico instead, Christensen finally was able to schedule a meeting D.C.-based Postal Government Relations representative Kathy Sitterle, she said.

At the meeting last week, Christensen brought forward many problems that both she and constituents have experienced with the mail. Parcels and letters Priority Mail - which is supposed to be delivered in 2 to 3 days - sometimes take more than a week to get to the territory. Mail that is headed to the Virgin Islands often gets misdirected. Mail gets intercepted for security reasons and there is not much communication between the postal service and the enforcement agencies. Staffing may not be adequate. Items ordered online sometimes have problems in shipping.

Christensen said that many of those problems developed since the Virgin Islands lost its mail processing facility. Bringing one back to the territory, she said, could improve many of these issues.

Sitterle sat through the meeting with Christensen, listened, and prepared to take the territory's problems to her supervisor. Christensen said that Sitterle seemed sympathetic but did not directly say what could or could not happen.

A follow-up meeting between Christensen and Sitterle has been scheduled for January, Christensen said. In the meantime, she has heard that additional mail flights and sorting techniques have been instituted to try to speed holiday delivery to the territory.

Christensen said she hopes that the territory's concerns with the postal service can be addressed through these meetings.

"I haven't ruled out asking for an investigation, but I'm going to give her a chance and see what she comes back with in January," Christensen said.

- Contact Megan Poinski at 774-8772 ext. 304 or e-mail mpoinski@dailynews.vi.