OP releases Netbook specifications

Feb 12, 2011 News

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– Tenders for mass procurement in two weeks

President Bharrat Jagdeo, yesterday said that the first set of laptops under the project were gifts – something different from what his Junior Minister of Finance, Jennifer Webster had indicated.
Minister Jennifer Webster had told Kaieteur News that the first set of laptops was procured through a competitive bidding process and when questioned in the National Assembly during the budget debate she said that the procurement of laptops was “ongoing.”
But at a press conference he held at his State House, Georgetown residence, yesterday, President Jagdeo announced that the tenders for the mass procurement of the laptops would begin in two weeks and the first set of laptops were not bought.
President Jagdeo accused Kaieteur News of distortions regarding the OLPF, and said there seems to be “a campaign to kill this programme.”
While accusing Kaieteur News of being the new official organ of the PNCR, Jagdeo admitted that information on the project was not adequate and his officers should have done a better job.
He said the mistake Minister Webster made when she said one laptop would be procured at a cost of G$295,000 should never have been made. Webster had corrected that to say that one laptop would be procured at a cost of US$295.
He said that the only computers the government has bought so far for the programme are five laptops (notebook) for the administrative staff of the OLPF Project and these cost less than $1 million.
He said the initial 142 computers that were distributed at the January 21 launch of the project was a gift from Chinese company Huawei, which has been contracted to run a fibre-optic cable from Brazil all the way to Crabwoob Creek and back to Charity.
That project, Webster had told the National Assembly, would be through Chinese funding of $2.5 billion.
The government has set aside $1.8 billion in the 2011 budget to procure laptops for the OLPF project. He said that the government has determined the specifications and estimates that procuring one of the laptops would cost around US$300.
He said no brand has been determined and the government’s preference would be to buy from a manufacturer who could meet the specifications.
The President released the specifications of the laptops that the government would buy. Among the features, the laptops would have one Gigabyte memory, and carry a built in camera of 0.3 megapixle. Preinstalled software applications were listed as Microsoft Office Full Suite, Antivirus with 12 months subscription and Adobe Acrobat reader. The government wants a supplier who could give a one-year warranty.
“We don’t know as yet what it would be, because it would be through a public tender,” Jagdeo stated.
He indicated that the government would have a preference for buying the laptops from a manufacturer even though he said that it would be an international tender.
“If you’re buying large quantities, like what we are purchasing, you should go directly to the manufacturers, like we’re going to do now, not to go through the local suppliers. If they want to put in a tender they can, but this would be an international tender,” Jagdeo stated.
The President said that some persons have come forward to say they can build laptops cheaper than what the government would buy it for, but he said that while that may be true, he questioned what could happen if components go wrong.
However, he said if the government buys, from Dell or Lenovo, “they will fix it.”
He said that the government intends to distribute 27,000 laptops this year, but if Chinese grant funding of US$8 million kicks in, a further 23,000 laptops could be distributed this year.
In the case of the Chinese grant funding, he said this could mean buying from a Chinese company, but the national funds would go to international tender.
Regarding who will benefit from the project, Jagdeo said that the laptops would go to poor families, and hence the government would have to do an income test. Other options could be to see those who fall within certain groups like disadvantaged groups or single parents.
Regarding security features, he said the government is trying to get software to shut down the laptops if they are reported stolen.
Former Finance Minister Carl Greenidge, who wants to be the presidential candidate for the main opposition PNCR in this year’s general elections, had said that the project seems headed for “another scandal of immense proportions.”
Greenidge stressed that no one can deny the benefits of accelerating education in the Information Technology Sector and making all Guyanese computer literate, “but the first major question is why should such a Government project be placed under the Office of the President for execution, rather than the Ministry of Education or the Ministry responsible for Training,” namely the Public Service Ministry.
Jagdeo berated Greenidge for his stance, saying Greenidge was the one who had the worst record of any Minister of Finance in the history of Guyana.
In Greenidge’s entire tenure, Jagdeo said, there was not “a single audited report for the country and he wants to run for president and he is commenting on accountability.”

(See specifications for Netbooks above)

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