China to plug Gy$2.5B into laptop programme

TIMES INT'L

Government has announced that China will be plugging Gy$2.5 billion into supporting purchase of the first 27,000 laptops under the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) initiative.

This was revealed in the National Assembly on Tuesday, February 1st, as parliamentarians began to consider the estimates of the 2011 National Budget.

Some Gy$4.3 billion is set aside to purchase the ‘Lenovo’ laptops, as disclosed by Minister within the Finance Ministry, Jennifer Webster, who was grilled by several members of the opposition, including People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Members of Parliament Volda Lawrence and Debra Backer, and the AFC’s Sheila Holder.

According to Webster, Guyana will be providing the remaining Gy$1.8 billion to purchase the first set of computers.

Questioned whether bids were awarded for the project, since the name and cost were already known, Webster said no bids have been awarded.

“The budget is an estimated cost, and the project is ongoing; this is an estimated cost,” she said in response to a question posed by PNCR’s Backer.

On January 21, government launched the OLPF initiative at the Guyana International Conference Centre at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara. The OLPF initiative is expected to benefit some 90,000 families. President Jagdeo said at launch of the initiative that this project can create opportunities for the beneficiaries of the laptops.

It will take about two years for the 90,000 laptops to be distributed to families across Guyana. This project serves as a stepping stone to the developments that the government predicts will take place after the programme has been fully implemented.

“This is just one part of the big picture; and what is very promising, to me, is that, as I travel throughout Guyana, the excitement of this project is very plausible,” Jagdeo had said.

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