In Guyana, One Laptop Per Family

By: - November 9th, 2011

Above: recipients of the Haier netbooks (Photo: GINA)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Guyana launched a programme yesterday aimed at supplying families in the country with one laptop per household, an initiative financed in part by the Chinese government.

The so-called “One Laptop Per Family” drive saw the first 1,000 Guyanese families receive Haier Netbooks yesterday, with 4,000 more to be distributed tomorrow across the country.

By the end of the year, 57,000 notebooks will arrive in Guyana, and the funding has been secured from the Chinese government for the remaining 33,000 devices, for a total of 90,000 by the end of the programme.

“The goal is not just to get [a] laptop in every home, but to ensure that within three years, every single Guyanese is computer literate,” said Guyanese President Bharrat Jagdeo. “We want to be the most computer literate country in the world.”

Jagdeo said the country was looking at the Information and Communication Technology sector as a driver of wealth creation in the country.

“This sector that we are trying to create is one that has great potential to transform our economy and transform the way we live,” he said.

As part of the programme, recipients of notebooks were required to give 30 hours of their time in training others, and to ensure that all members of their families were trained on the computers.

The move comes as a number of public facilities in Guyana will be connected to the internet at higher speeds thanks to a fibre optic cable coming from Brazil, something that will be completed next year.

A Chinese company has also been contracted to lay a fibre optic cable in another sector of the country.

“This means that we will have fibre optic backbone across the entire country that will allow us to move capacity and to get internet services into these areas,” Jagdeo said.

Haier won the bidding for the project, and the company is now establishing a manufacturing plant in Guyana to assemble computers and other devices for the Caribbean market.

Guyana’s elections are set for Nov. 28.

Guyana

China: Barbados an "Important Partner"

Above: Barbados FM Sen. Maxine McClean and Chen Changzhi, Vice Chairman of China’s Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Barbados is one of China’s “important partners” in the Caribbean region, according to Chen Changzhi, Vice Chairman of China’s Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. Chen was in Bridgetown as part of a delegation […]

Guyana

Ron Daniels Talks Haiti

Above: the Sans Souci Palace in Haiti (UN Photo/Victoria Hazou) By Alexander Britell Dr Ron Daniels is the President of the Institute of the Black World and the Founder of the Haiti Support Project, an organization that has been working for more than a decade to help improve engagement with Haiti and raise awareness of […]

Guyana

Haiti Cholera Victims Seek Damages from United Nations

Above: Haitian wait for cholera treatment at a center in Haiti (UN Photo: Sophia Paris) By the Caribbean Journal staff More than 5,000 Haitians, either victims of cholera or relatives of victims, have submitted claims to the United Nations and the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti for damages from the alleged introduction of cholera […]

Major Investment for Bahamas Healthcare

 Above: Health Minister Dr Hubert Minnis Photo: BIS The Bahamas is building a $52 million new Critical Care Block at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Nassau, the single-largest investment in healthcare infrastructure at the site in almost 60 years, according to Health Minister Dr Hubert Minnis. The block will be built on the northern grounds […]

Suriname, World Bank Renew Partnership

 By the Caribbean Journal staff A contingent from the World Bank began a three-day visit to Suriname yesterday aimed at rewinding the bank’s commitment to the country. World Bank Director for the Caribbean Francoise Clottes was joined by Giorgio Valentini, the bank’s country representative for Suriname and International Finance Corporation representative Kirk Ifill. After 30 […]

Safest Period in Years for Jamaican Police

 Above: Health Minister Dr Hubert Minnis Photo: BIS The Bahamas is building a $52 million new Critical Care Block at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Nassau, the single-largest investment in healthcare infrastructure at the site in almost 60 years, according to Health Minister Dr Hubert Minnis. The block will be built on the northern grounds […]

Trinidad's Government Lifts Curfew

 Above: Trinidad PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar (Photo: TGISL) By the Caribbean Journal staff Trinidad has lifted the curfew imposed at the beginning of the country’s declared State of Emergency, although the latter will remain in effect, according to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. The Prime Minister declared the State of Emergency a success, citing what she said […]