First phase e-governance initiative 85 percent complete
THE first phase of Guyana’s E-Governance initiative, utilising a fibre optic cable stretching from Lethem to Georgetown, is 85 percent complete and the Project Manager, Alexei Ramotar , said that segment will be ready for commissioning by July month end, if not before.
President Donald Ramotar’s son told the Guyana Chronicle, yesterday, that the laying of the 560 kilometres conduit has been done and it is already hooked up to ‘Oi’, the giant Brazil telecommunications provider that will be providing Guyana the link to access  the rest of the world.
Ramotar said work on the repeater stations, another aspect of the project, is progressing satisfactorily and what remains to be finished is the connection to them and testing of the system, all of which should be completed within the next three months.
E-Governance refers to the delivery of government services and information to the public, using electronic means and, usually, falls under three sections:
* E-Administration, which is aimed at improving government processes, especially in the public sector;
* E-Services, to improve the delivery of public services, for example, providing public documents online (such as birth certificates etc.)  and
* E-Democracy, to facilitate greater participation by the public in the decision making processes of a country.
Information Technology (IT) is seen as the best way for the implementation of E-Governance because it is efficient, speedy, participatory, transparent and affords accountability when disseminating information to the public, simultaneously with performing government functions.
Used worldwide
The system of E-Governance is used worldwide and the Lethem/Georgetown fibre optic cable establishment is a government undertaking to upgrade the local telecommunications infrastructure, Ramotar said.
He said, in phase two, the Lethem/Georgetown line will be integrated with another from Moleson Creek, Corentyne, Berbice to Parika, East Bank Essequibo and, for that purpose, the E-Governance administrators will be utilising a connection that is being laid by Guyana Power & Light (GPL) from Corriverton, Corentyne to Edinburgh, West Coast Demerara.
“The GPL is already doing this work, so it will be cheaper for us to piggyback on them for this distance,” Ramotar acknowledged.
That cable will be extended to Parika and, in phase two, the E-Governance system will secure access to Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast and the Essequibo Islands, by means of microwave systems, as it would be too expensive to lay a cable across the Essequibo River.
E-Governance access to the interior, especially the Rupununi, will be made possible by ‘drop off’ points at Annai, Kurupukari, Mabura and Linden and other hinterland areas by microwave but no decision has been made as to whether the public will be able to use the system, Ramotar said.
“It is mainly for connecting government agencies. But the public will have access to ‘drop off’ points and hubs will be set up, as part of the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) Project, where people can go and get free access. We will not be distributing to people’s homes, though,” he said.
Internet accessibility
The E-Governance cables will connect government places countrywide, giving them Internet accessibility so that they can carry on activities such as video conferencing and signing documents using electronic signatures and doing their work online and not have to travel to Georgetown for those purposes.
“Instead of having separate means of communication, government agencies can all access one high speed cable which will meet all their communications needs,” Ramotar clarified.
He disclosed that the police will benefit from a dedicated bandwidth to improve their communications, countrywide, too.
Ramotar said the contractor has been asked to create a wireless network for government ministries and agencies in Georgetown.
Local companies, MMC, Dax Contracting and Dynamic Engineering were responsible for laying cables along the route and using GPL poles to suspend them where it was possible.
Huawei of China is responsible for the design and implementation of the project.