All public places will have Internet access – President

As a means of keeping up with the new age of technological advancement, the Guyana Government will ensure that all public places, particularly schools, have access to the Internet, while more Cyril Potter College teachers will be given laptops.
President David Granger made this disclosure on his televised programme, “The Public Interest”, stating that Government remained committed to Information Technology and Communication (ITC) advancements and employment generation, especially for youths. He indicated that it took ITC training, inter-connectivity and the provision of computers very seriously as a means for driving Guyana toward technological advancement.
“I see that every single public place, school, hospital, prison will eventually have the ability to access the Internet and expect that the Private Sector will follow suit,” he said, highlighting that the establishment of a Ministry of Public Telecommunications was one of the steps toward an innovative country.
Of recent, the Government, which was put into office via a pro-youth platform with promises of employment of thousands, has come under heavy criticism for its 180-degree turn from its 2015 Election Manifesto promise, especially with youth unemployment registering at 40 per cent.
President Granger had himself announced that creating jobs for people was not the Government’s business, a sentiment which was echoed by Finance Minister Winston Jordan.
However, after being publicly chastised for that statement, the Government made an about-turn at the recent award ceremony of the Sustainable Livelihood and Entrepreneurship Development (SLED) programme, when Granger declared that if employment, the principal means for people to escape from poverty, was unavailable, the youths would fumble.
“This Administration is committed to generating employment,” Granger noted, while stating that since its election to office, his Administration has funded several youth development projects, aimed at generating employment through entrepreneurship capacity building.
The Administration, the President said, in order to reduce unemployment also launched the billion-dollar youth employment programme in the hinterland, “which saw 2000 young people in 106 communities being able to access knowledge and grants for entrepreneurship”.
He also stated that as a member of the then Opposition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), he visited many schools in Amerindian communities and saw computer laboratories without computers and computers without Internet access. The Head of State stated that with the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector, all children in schools would be given an opportunity to access the Internet.