[www.inewsguyana.com] – President Donald Ramotar yesterday congratulated the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) Company for their contribution to enhancing the social development of students, as a result of their decision to renovate the Information Computer Technology Laboratory’s Resource Centre at the University of Guyana (UG).
President Ramotar said that he was pleased that the company took the decision to execute the $20 million project, which will “complement government’s efforts to improve facilities at the University of Guyana”. He said that planned capital works; improvements in the science and technology programmes, and the planned Centre for Bio-Diversity Studies were just some of government’s planned inputs.
Noting that education has become vital and pivotal towards the development of any society, the president said it can be seen in the fact that the world’s most developed countries have the most educated populations. “The most important factor for our development is our human factor and therefore we have to build that human capital, if we are to advance into this century that we are in, and if our economy is to go forward with the speed that it can, and it potentially has.”
President Ramotar called on other private sector companies to follow the move by the telecommunications company, as in doing so they would be reviving a tradition that started with the initial launch of UG’s campus, some 50 years ago, and saw two companies offering scholarships to high performing students.
“I hope this example will become infectious and catches on in the private sector,” and also called on students to use the facilities for the purpose, for which they were intended.
GT&T’s Chief Executive Officer, RK Sharma in his remarks said that education as a tool for economic empowerment and development was most evident, and that the correlation between education and national development has been well established. The project can be seen, the GT&T CEO said, in the context of the company’s relationship with UG whereby over the last 10 years they have partnered and contributed to various aspects of the institution’s progress.
“We were instrumental in the setting up of what was then referred to as the Centre for Information Technology Laboratory. When the facility was opened, we equipped it to the value of G$10 million and also provided, what at that time was deemed to be high speed internet access”. He added that the technical requirements to host UG’s GY domain, were also provided for, as well as the provision of five scholarships, annually in the technology and natural sciences fields.
It was in April of this year that a memorandum of understanding was signed between GT&T and the university, where a commitment was made to provide assistance valued at $3 million over a three- year period, the CEO said.
“This project was formed under that agreement and it entailed the refurbishment of the internet resource centre as we now call it, along with a complete replacement of the 57 computers and provision of additional equipment to enhance the delivery and distribution of the bandwidth. This was done at a cost of approximately $20 million”.
The previous bandwidth of 512 kilobytes has been expanded to 2 megabytes of direct access internet service at a cost of $1.2 million monthly, to the centre, he added. [Extracted and modified from GINA]
