Persaud commissions second of eight ICT centres for sugar workers

Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud on Friday  commissioned the second of eight ICT centres for the benefit of sugar workers and their families, and scores of workers particularly from the Skeldon Sugar Estate in Region Six were present, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.

Minister Persaud, underscoring the importance of ICT in the development of an economy, said that the intervention is a fulfillment of a promise by President Bharrat Jagdeo to extend ICT not only to the school system and community groups but to the sugar industry also.

Persaud also called for the facility to be accessible to each worker in the industry, despite its position, since it will allow them to further develop their technological capacity.

Persaud also pointed out that government’s investments in the fibre optic cable system will facilitate a bridging of the digital gap, noting that if the sector is developed it will provide additional employment for thousands more than the sugar industry currently employs.

Additionally, the minister stated, if all the components are to be realised, Guyana will be able to develop a sector which will employ approximately 25,000 people, compared to the 16,000 the sugar industry currently employs.

“We do not only have to see development within the space that we occupy, if we work within sugar we must not only see what government is doing in sugar, but other developments outside of sugar,” the minister added.

He pointed out that the development and prosperity of a nation cannot be based on one activity alone, since the transformation currently taking place will enable more opportunities to be created.

According to GINA, the initiative was  highly lauded by residents, workers and students of Region Six who expressed their gratitude, noting that it will go a long way in the transformation of their lives.

Region Six Chairman Zulfikar Mustapha in his address said that the centre is evidence of the modernized resources government is making available to benefit Guyanese.   Although wages and salaries is a major concern for many workers, he urged them to look at the bigger picture which is the future of the country, GINA added.