…says 120 hubs completed within 3 years
The sum of $125 million has been set aside in the Office of the Prime Minister’s 2025 budget to support the operationalisation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) hubs across the country.
The monies once approved will be allocated to the ongoing ICT Access and e-Services for the Hinterland, Poor, and Remote Communities (HPRC) Project which continues to make significant strides, with over $1 billion invested in Amerindian communities to date.
This is according to Prime Minister Mark Phillips, who announced on Friday during an ICT Project Board Meeting at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.
The Prime Minister told those gathered that his office has completed its budgetary submission for 2025, and $120 million is also set aside for the maintenance of existing facilities.
This amount has been doubled from the allocation in 2024 due to increased cost of maintenance and security.
“While the project should come to an end in 2026, personally, I would like to see it at least by December 2025. We reported that 200 hubs are completed and completed here means connected to the internet… This project already is a success but we cannot rest on our laurels and become complacent, we have to continue with the same momentum to see this project to the end,” Phillips noted.
Further, he stated that in 2025, Amerindian communities will continue to experience unprecedented development as the government ramps up efforts to bridge the digital divide in these regions.
He noted that over 120 hubs have been completed over the last three years and 70 ICT Managers and 25 solar technicians have been trained to preserve the facilities.
The goal he said is to construct some 200 ICT hubs by 2025 to provide service to almost 100,000 residents.
“We have gotten the government’s approval to purchase 1000 of those star link devices, so while Ronald is doing his work we are going to the same communities and other communities and connecting them to the internet. It means that when the hub is completed all we will have to do is move the device wherever we install it to the hub,” he added.
In October 2020, Prime Minister Phillips, who is the subject Minister with responsibility for Telecommunications, announced that the government had issued commencement orders, fully bringing into force the Telecommunications Act 2016 (the “Act”) and the Public Utilities Commission Act 2016.
The PPP/C Government has said it is aiming to provide 100 per cent ICT, specifically internet access, across Guyana by 2025. It has been pointed out that the increase in ICT access throughout Guyana can be tied to the PPP/C Government’s bold decision to liberalise the telecommunications sector soon after they entered office in 2020.
