China donates over 28,000 laptops

March 5, 2013, By KNews, Filed Under News, Source

Chinese Ambassador Zhang Limin hands over the laptops to Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh.

The Chinese government yesterday handed over 28,145 laptops to the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) project.

The laptops, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh said, are valued at US$8 million, none of which the Guyana government has to pay back.

The Finance Minister was loud in praise for the Chinese initiative.

Some 27,000 laptops have already been handed over to poor Guyanese families who cannot afford one of their own; at least that is the aim of the initiative.

Some $1.8 billion of taxpayers’ money was spent to buy the first set of laptops. That money was allocated in 2011.

Chinese appliances manufacturer, Haier, had received a US$7.6 million contract to supply the netbooks for the first phase of the Project.

But the government has been arguing that with a budget cut last year, it had to find other means to fund the programme.

So the big question now is if a previous budget catered for all the laptops distributed to date, where has the government been taking money and to fund what over the past year or so.

The Chinese Ambassador, Zhang Limin, spent most of his time at yesterday’s ceremony pleading with the media to show the positive aspects of Guyana/China relations.

His plea comes on the heels of the criticism Chinese companies have been coming in for of late, with the nastiest scandal being Shanghai Construction Limited which demanded that it hire an all Chinese workforce to build the Marriott hotel – a request that the Guyana Government acceded to.

The project intends to hand out a total of 90,000 laptops. So far, 26,000 laptops have been distributed to date.

The project was launched three years ago by President Bharrat Jagdeo.
Project Consultant Dario McKlmon said that the project has to date received close to 100,000 applications.

“OLPF has already been having an impact among the recipients who we now term members of the OLPF family,” McKlmon said.

The Finance Minister said that the Chinese Government is supporting major projects in Guyana like the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP) the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) expansion project and the laying of the US$30 million fibre optic cable along the country’s coastline.

“The distinction between those who have access to Information Communications Technology and those who don’t should be removed… our position as a government is that the vast benefits of Information Communications Technology must be available to all of the citizens of Guyana irrespective of where they live, irrespective of indeed their education background, irrespective even of their age,” Dr Singh said.

He said that ICT is a rapidly growing sector that has already proven beneficial, especially with some 3,000 persons being employed at call centres in various parts of the country.

“We view Information and Communications Technology as having the potential to achieve this transformation through many facets including a means through which Government can more effectively and effectively deliver services to citizens including as a driver of economic growth in its own right,” Minister Singh said.

The support Guyana has received from the Chinese Government has not gone unnoticed, Minister Singh assured Ambassador Limin.