The Lethem to Georgetown project which will connect to Brazil and provide internet access for e-government purposes is about 85% complete with all the fibre optic cables in the country, and by mid-year government administration will be fully supported electronically.
This development is expected to effectively lower the cost on data connectivity.
Some testing has already been done and the entire project is expected to be completed by June, according to a press release from the Government Information Agency (GINA).
The focus of the programme is to create infrastructure in Guyana especially for government purposes, introduce new government services and to make whatever services already exist more accessible to the citizens who use government services, and to speed up the process.
However, there is still need to put in internal equipment and connect the cables, according to the Project Manager of the E-Government Project Unit, Alexei Ramotar, who added that there are some areas that have to be redone for various reasons, the release said.
He noted that there are always cases of persons cutting the cable, hoping to find copper, but instead there is only glass, but as a result corrective works have to be done.
The major part of the remainder of the work is connecting the cables, Ramotar said. These come in 10 kilometre bits and have to be connected and placed in special boxes so that they are not easily damaged.
This process began in early February, and the Project Unit is currently hiring technicians who will be trained to go out in the field to do the connecting.
The other project which is much bigger is to run a fibre-optic cable from Moleson Creek, Region Six, to Parika, Region Three, and then a crossing for access to the Essequibo Coast.
This project also has with it a wireless component for access to the network, which will be through the long-term 4G cellular technology, as well as an e-government data centre which will be built and established at Providence, East Bank Demerara, the release stated.
Meanwhile, a loan application to the Chinese Govern-ment resulted in Huawei Technologies Company being awarded the contract in January this year. That company has already begun bringing in their engineers and setting up office. They are also hiring local staff to conduct some of the work as well as examine local sub-contractors who they may need for small contracts.
The E-Government Project Unit is awaiting the completion of the design to determine what the project will cost.
Ramotar expects that this will be finished by the end of March and work will probably begin in April or May, completing the Georgetown phase and the Linden phase in June.
However, there are still other aspects of the infrastructure works to be completed, he explained. Sites for repeater stations have to be set up and equipment put down for the Lethem/ Georgetown project, in addition to the connectivity aspect to be catered for. It is expected that all of this will be completed by the end of April and then there will be the commissioning followed by possible corrective works if necessary.
Some of the positive aspects of this project, the release noted, will include security approaches being centralized and accessible through high speed networks; doctors engaged in consultations in remote areas; e-libraries and data centres for academic institutions, students, adults, and engineering firms; video conferencing facilities between the Univer-sity of Guyana Turkeyen and Tain campuses.
Regarding personnel, there will be security vetting of these persons. Security specialists will be employed and once the project is complete, there will be an audit of the security and flaws will be refined and plugged on an ongoing basis, the release added.
