UG gets $60 million injection from GT&T

May 01, 2014 News

–monies to be expended over three years

GT&T’s CEO, Radha Krishna Sharma (second from left) shakes hands with UG’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Jacob Opadeyi (second from right) after signing the MoU yesterday. Also in photo are GT&T’s CFO, Justin Nedd, (extreme left) and UG’s Registrar, Vincent Alexander.

The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) yesterday signed over a whopping sum of $60 million to the University of Guyana (UG) which will be tangibly expended to aid academic work over the next three years.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) inked between the two parties yesterday in the Ballet Room of the Quamina Street, Georgetown, Cara Lodge, details that GT&T will provide sponsorship funds to the University which will be paid out in tranches of $20 million annually. Being effective from April 2014, the GT&T commitment will cater to the delivery of two megabytes of internet bandwidth to the Centre for Information Technology (CIT) which alone will attract an overall cost of $1.2 million monthly. Additionally there will be a provision of $4.4 million annually to fund capital works identified by the University.

Further still, GT&T’s Chief Executive Officer, Radha Krishna Sharma, said that the telephone company will direct another $10 million towards the re-tooling and refurbishing of the CIT Laboratory, including the replacement of 57 Dell computers the telephone company had donated in 2004. It is expected that the refurbishing work will commence immediately, paving the way for the re-commissioning of the laboratory at the start of the new academic year, Sharma said.

Added to this, he said that the vision of additional support inclusive of routers and access points among other features, to enhance the delivery of distribution of the bandwidth, will be funded by the telephone company.

Sharma disclosed yesterday too, that GT&T is prepared to provide a close-user group service package which will be made available to UG’s administrative staff with a view of offering savings and greater value for money.

In detailing the extensive aid planned for the University, Sharma divulged that the financial endowment represents the “highest dollar value commitment we have given to any agency.” In fact he disclosed that the move is one designed to forge a new relationship with the University even as efforts are made to lend “even greater support.”

According to Sharma, GT&T is a company that has, from its inception, embraced core values that foster sustainable development and has been driven by a vision to create value for its employees, customers, shareholders and society in general. As such he highlighted that “the duty of the company is to create value, and value is not limited to economic benefits but also includes social responsibility…”

GT&T has over the years been able to maintain a cordial and very supportive relationship with the University which has seen it being able to contribute to various aspects of the University’s programmes.

As such, Sharma, in alluding to a long history of beneficial collaboration between the two entities recalled that GT&T was instrumental in the setting up of the University’s CIT laboratory and the provision of high-speed internet access. And according to Sharma, “we also facilitated and continue to provide the technical requirements to host the University domain…”

Over the years too, GT&T has been partnering with the University to provide five annual scholarships for studies in the fields of technology and natural science, Sharma disclosed, even as he amplified his conviction that “education is pivotal in moulding the minds of young people and to develop the intellect and academic skills to pave the entry into the work force and a better quality of life.”

Moreover, he stressed that UG is uniquely positioned to make a contribution to a life-changing experience for young people, a task that the telephone company is only too willing to support. “It is in this context that we have taken this decision to move our relationship to this level,” he added. He disclosed that during the past few months officials at GT&T were busy reviewing the company’s contribution to the various sectors of the social economy and “we feel that support to this premier education institution should be a priority as we recognise that such support benefits a wide cross section of society…”

The MoU was signed by Sharma and Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Jacob Opadeyi. Professor Opadeyi, who was integrally involved in outlining the nature of the telephone company’s support, pointed out that the commitment is significant as it is substantial.

Professor Opadeyi expressed his belief that the support is well directed since UG is a national institution and “not an institution for the Government or an institution for the Opposition which means that it is owned by every one of us…it is a symbol of Guyana.”

The signing of the MoU was witnessed by Registrar of the University, Vincent Alexander and a number of senior officials of the telephone company including Chief Financial Officer, Justin Nedd.