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OLPF project to be phased out, 3,152 units still in stock
Minister of State, Joseph Harmon in the OLPF Office
By Jarryl Bryan
As the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) administration prepares for the final batch of nearly 10,000 One Laptop Per Family units expected to arrive, there are still some 3,152 laptops remaining in the system.
Even more the warranties on all of those laptops, which are the remnants of the Great Walls batch that came as gifts from China in 2013, have all expired. Kaieteur News understands that the warranty on the Great Walls laptops started from the time they arrived in 2013.
The administration secured a nine-month extension that was subsequently granted. As of last March , the warranties expired. This finding comes on the heels of intentions expressed by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Administration to convert the ‘One Laptop for Family’ (OLPF) project into ‘One laptop per teacher’ with the arrival of the computers.
The OLPF project, which was first initiated in 2011, is just one of three sections of the past People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration efforts to modernize the country’s Information Communications Technology (ICT) sector. The other two were the Brazil-linked Fibre Optic cable, running from Lethem to Georgetown and the installation and commissioning a wireless and terrestrial network system from Moleson Creek to Anna Regina. Between 2010 and 2014, through the National budget, the then PPP/C government allocated some $20B (US$100M) for a number of projects under the guise of modernizing the country’s Information Communications Technology (ICT) Industry to a world recognized standard. The country’s longstanding poor internet connectivity speeds were cited as a principal reason.
TABLE 1
The expected 10,000 units is the third batch of laptops. The second batch of computers was manufactured by the Great Walls Computer Shenzhen Company Ltd. and was delivered in January 2013 following a bilateral agreement between the Government of Guyana and the People’s Republic of China.
However, this batch developed a myriad of problems mostly regarding the six celled batteries being used. Kaieteur News understands that the batteries were discharging rapidly, necessitating the use of power packs in order to even use the laptops.
Government launched a review of the laptop programme early last month, with Minister of State Joseph Harmon touring the OLPF office in Forshaw Street. Harmon subsequently reported that a large number of unserviceable and defective computers were discovered in the building.
However, Harmon had also been reported in the media as saying that as the bulk of the laptops represented a gift, there was not much the Government could do or say about the damaged items. Kaieteur News understands that everything from the first batch of computers, which came from Chinese appliance manufacturer, Haier in 2011, has already been distributed.
The APNU+AFC administration also took steps to dismiss some 40 OLPF employees, following a recent visit to the project offices in Queenstown by the Minister of State. During the visit, he had noticed ‘inconsistencies’ in agency operations, including staff members who were “busy doing nothing.”
When the controversial project, the brainchild of former President Bharrat Jagdeo, was launched in 2011, it was with the intention that 90,000 persons would be the recipients of the laptops. The US$30M project had only distributed 27,000 Haier units by the end of 2012, with a further 27,145 Great Wall products distributed subsequently.
With the final batch of computers expected to arrive shortly, this means that the project, when it is shut down after the ‘One laptop per teacher’ distribution exercise, will have distributed almost 65,000 laptops- 25,000 less than the amount conceptualized by the previous government.
Below is a breakdown of how the laptops were distributed during the time of the program.
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