$360M budgeted to improve ICT in underserved communities

Feb 14, 2021 News

Senior Minister, Ashni Singh.

Kaieteur News – The government has earmarked $360 million to improve Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in underserved communities across Guyana. This was listed under allocations for the public telecommunications sector by Senior Minister within the Office of the President with the responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh.
To improve ICT in poor and vulnerable communities, the government has sought to establish a Universality Fund which is a new feature to the telecommunications regulatory regime, according to Dr. Singh. The $360 million allocation is intended to be injected into the fund. “This year, Government will establish the Universality Fund, a feature of the new telecommunications regulatory regime through which access to modern telecommunications services can be funded for our poor and vulnerable communities including those in our hinterland regions,” Dr. Singh stated.
On that note, he related that his administration would have trained 46 Community Services Officers last year in ICT skills, returning support to the development of once-neglected Amerindian communities.
He stressed the importance of ICT for creating, catalysing and sustaining economic growth and development, highlighting the government’s liberalisation of the telecommunications sector 64 days after taking office.
A plan is being prepared by the government that will specify feasible projects to be implemented by Guyana’s private sector which is expected to boost connectivity for businesses in these unserved and underserved communities as stated by Dr. Singh.
“Already, we expect over 450 jobs will be created in the area of business process outsourcing with the operationalisation of call centres at Tuschen, Enmore, and Linden, partly facilitated by decreased cost of internet service,” Dr. Singh disclosed. In that vein, he stated that under the universality fund, $67 million will be used to rehabilitate the facility in Linden which is expected to host the call centre.
Kaieteur News previously reported on the incomplete Linden call centre to which the former coalition government signed a $116M contract for supervision services for the renovations and functional enhancements. The contract was awarded in 2019 and the works were set for completion by April 2020, but to date, the facility is still incomplete.
Findings from the 2019 Auditor General’s report had also shown that materials valuing $16.246 million that was already paid for to rehabilitate the Linden Call Centre could not be accounted for and when a physical verification was conducted on the site on September 4, no representative was present to supervise the works being done.
Additionally, Dr. Singh said his administration will move swiftly to ensure that the benefits of liberalisation reach all sectors in the form of faster and cheaper internet service, which will serve as a catalyst for ICT related business development, which will see business becoming more efficient and resilient and help to drive job creation.

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