WITH Guyana on the cusp of development, the Ministry of Public Telecommunications (MoTP) has been moving towards providing programmes and services that would help to transition Guyana from its current state into a more modernised and digital state. The ministry believes that technology has a powerful capacity to transform nearly every sector of Guyana’s economy and is committed to harnessing that power as a tool for national development and for improving the lives of all Guyanese.

Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes, on NCN’s programme Context, disclosed that in the past year the ministry has focused heavily on ensuring that children all across the country have access to internet connection. She stated that this has proven very beneficial in the students’ academic pursuits. She stated that the ministry has moved to take this initiative not just to schools on the coastland areas, but also to schools in hinterland communities. She explained that almost 300 schools and ministries across the country that previously had little to no connectivity now have internet access.

“The students in so many of our residential homes, like the residential home in St. Ignatius where they’re able to connect to programmes and training online that might exist, that might be free where children in schools in Georgetown all across the coast or all across Guyana can do research can enhance their ability to do better at school,” said Minister Hughes.

She further related that the initiative is not just focused on providing internet access to schools, but that it has been expanded to include, in some instances, whole communities that were previously not able to receive internet or due to there being no services offered or due to extremely high costs. She explained the benefits that this would provide to the residents in these communities, as it relates to being able to market their businesses and expand their markets.

“For the first time you have a place like Monkey Mountain where there is no telephone service, where there was only one individual providing internet service at a very high cost. And we were able of course, as you know there is a new lapidary opened at Monkey Mountain and we were able to go in right after and provide free internet access to the community and also to the lapidary. What does that mean for the village, of Monkey Mountain? It means that in addition to all the employees from that village or that community that works with the lapidary they are now able to enhance and sustain their project, because with internet access they can sell their beautiful gem stones that they are preparing to[sell to] jewellery stores in Georgetown, in any part of the Caribbean and in fact any part of the world,” explained Hughes.

Minister Hughes stated that the ministry has plans for 2020 to see close to 100 government services online this year, which would result in less travel for residents. She explained that many times residents have to make their way across the country to the Georgetown to be able to get their various documents that they may need to conduct official business and stated that the Ministry of Public Telecommunications is working to ensure that persons no longer have to make their way to the capital city to have these done; they can access these materials wherever they have internet access.

“We’re taking Guyana in the direction where you could go to an ICT hub you could go to a community centre where we created hotspots, so you can go online in any of these locations, fill in your application form for your business registration, for your tin number; in time you would be able to do your driver’s licence, the theory part, online,” explained Hughes.