– flays Carl Greenidge
“Greenidge was the one who had the worst record of any Minister of Finance in the history of this country.”  –  President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday, during an especially stinging rebuke of the aspiring President
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday flayed detractors of the government’s One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) project, including opposition leaders and media houses.
At a press conference at his official State House residence hours after returning home from an official visit to India, he hit out at what he called a campaign to destabilise the project.
Responding to claims in some sections of the media and from other quarters, he explained that the only computers bought so far by the government for administrative purposes of the project, were five laptops at less than a million Guyana dollars, which he was assured by his staff was a competitive cost, after assessing quotations from various suppliers.

QUOTE: “I have seen Trotman criticising it, Corbin criticising it…Kaieteur News…but I am sure that Adam Harris has a computer…and Glenn Lall….and Corbin’s children have computers; and all the members of Parliament, who sit on high horses, they have computers in their homes, and their families have access to computers.  Don’t they care about the poor people’s kids who will never have an opportunity to have a computer in their home?  I find this utterly selfish and disgusting.”

The President said the 142 computers distributed at the launch of the OLPF, were not bought by the government but were a gift from the Huawei firm in China and, in essence, all the expenditure on the project so far was less than a million dollars to fund computers for OLPF administrative staff.
The Office of the President has purchased 20 computers for use by its staff members, bought at US$100 cheaper than the usual rate and this is not for the laptop project, he said.
According to President Jagdeo, it was made clear at the launch of the OLPF that $1.8 billion had been budgeted for acquisition of the laptops, which will be purchased by way of public tender.
Bidders will be provided with specifications that are already outlined, which will be open to public scrutiny at the launch of the tender within a matter of two weeks, he said.
Added to the government’s budgetary allocation, the Chinese government has given a grant, which the government proposes to add to the laptop project fund, and which will consequently expand the project, Mr. Jagdeo said
The President explained that because the grant is from China, it may be required that a Chinese firm supplies the laptops for that allocation of funds; probably one of two major suppliers – Haier and Lenovo, the latter which acquired the IBM franchise and uses that company’s technology.
The Chinese component will add another US$8 million to the government’s allocation of $1.8 billion.
However, the President was adamant that the government’s specifications will be paramount to the final decision as regards the choice of supplier – of both the Guyana and China tranches of funding for the project.
Describing eligibility for acquisition of the laptops, the President said that the target is poor people – the least fortunate in Guyana, especially disadvantaged people and single parents.
He briefly outlined some methods of needs testing that will be carried out to determine eligibility.
Relative to security, President Jagdeo stressed the imperative of dealing with this issue and stated the government’s intention of acquiring the requisite software to shut down the computers in the event that these are stolen.  This is an exercise in progress, he noted.
Reiterating that every initiative has challenges, the President recalled the instance of sharing out cheques after the floods of 2005/6, when people tried to cheat the system.
He said that although this is a probability that will happen during this project, he cannot halt the initiative because of such a potential eventuality, because that “will be extremely short sighted of me.”
GREENIDGE FLAYED

The Guyanese head of state also flayed the critics for their denunciation of the project, and made an especially stinging rebuke at PNCR Presidential aspirant and former Finance Minister Mr. Carl Greenidge.
“I have seen Trotman criticising it, Corbin criticising it…Kaieteur News…but I am sure that Adam Harris has a computer…and Glenn Lall….and Corbin’s children have computers; and all the members of Parliament, who sit on high horses, they have computers in their homes, and their families have access to computers.  Don’t they care about the poor people’s kids who will never have an opportunity to have a computer in their home?  I find this utterly selfish and disgusting.”
The President continued: “I saw a letter that was given widespread coverage that we shouldn’t give people the computers in their homes because their children may look at porn…..Now, poor people would look at porn, that is the rationale…their children would use it to look at porn, but rich people…and I am sure the person who wrote that letter…has a computer, and may be even looking at porn; but we shouldn’t give the poor people’s kids because, God forbid, they may look at porn, so don’t give them anything.
“This is the kind of country and the leaders that we have to deal with…and Greenidge, of all persons talking about accountability in this programme.  Greenidge was the one who had the worst record of any Minister of Finance in the history of this country.”
The President challenged the media to ask “…Goolsarran. He was the one who wrote, prohibiting him (Greenidge) from auditing privatisation proceeds.  He was the one under whose tenure…his entire tenure, he didn’t have a single audited report for the country…and he wants to run for the president.  He is commenting on accountability….(during) his entire tenure as Minister of Finance, not a single audited report for the country, (which) violated the law.”
Conceding that purchases could be made cheaper online, the President discounted this as a feasible approach for making small purchases, especially in view of the fact that one cannot make claims against the supplier in the event of a dysfunctional item, because local suppliers can be approached for after-sales services.
However, the President stressed that the purchase of the laptops would be done by way of international tender, although local suppliers would be welcome to submit bids.
“Why is it that so many people are opposed to something that would help poor people’s kids to have a chance in this world?” questioned the President.
He also expressed his disgust with the acrimony expressed against the expanded connectivity now in various stages of progress in the country, which could see the country “explode” in its developmental trajectory.
The President explained that the fibre optic systems allow for the building of a range of other systems that will expand the communication dynamics and consequently the development paradigm of the country.
He asked “what is wrong with people having more access to information in this day and age?”