(Seychelles News Agency) - People who ordered Christmas gifts and other items from China for the festive season will receive their parcels early in the new year, said an official from the Seychelles Postal Services.

The deputy chief executive of the Seychelles Postal Services, Alex Etienne, told SNA recently that there was a delay with the delivery of couriers from China beyond their control.

"The airline, Kenya Airways, which carries mail bags refused to transport the mail bags since November and did not provide a reason as to why they stopped the service. Because the Chinese postal service was using this airline only, we did not receive any couriers from China," explained Etienne.

He said the peak season for couriers usually starts in November as everybody imports gifts, decorations and other items in time for Christmas.

However this year, it was very slow and it was only recently that Kenya Airways resumed its services.

"As we speak the postal service is swamped with parcels which date back to the beginning of November and of course we are trying our best to sort them out as soon as possible. But unfortunately, we will not be able to distribute them before the end of the year," he said.

The postal service in Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, has a strict security policy and this will further delay the sorting and distribution processes.

"We are aware that some of these items were meant for Christmas and New Year but unfortunately we will not compromise the security aspect of our work. We will have to register and check each parcel individually and of course, this is time-consuming and will definitely go into the New Year," added Etienne.

Most of the couriers originate from the Chinese province of Guangzhou and some from Hong Kong.

"It is the Chinese postal service which sorts out mail delivery, so this has nothing to do with Seychelles. We just accept the mail bags. So we cannot do anything when something like this happens," said the deputy chief executive.

The Postal Service also informed SNA that there were delays in delivery from South Africa throughout the year, due to the inconsistency in the delivery of mail bags from the country.

"South Africa is considered a hub for countries like India, Malaysia and France and a lot of couriers go through the country on its way to Seychelles. We were not having regular delivery from there as well which also led to a delay in the arrival of parcels," said Etienne.

Meanwhile, he said mail bags from Singapore and England were delivered on time.