The government hopes to roll out its One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) programme before the end of the month as 13,000 computers are expected to arrive here within the next two weeks.
Labour Minister Manzoor Nadir, who has ministerial oversight for the OLPF, told Stabroek News that 5,000 netbooks were expected to be dispatched on Friday. An additional 8,000 instruments are set to arrive the following week, Nadir indicated. “I am looking forward that by the end of the month we can begin distributing laptops to the recipients,” the minister said. He also tried to dispel suggestions from some quarters that the laptops were being issued to spy on citizens. “I want to reiterate that the computers have no equipment in them to spy on anybody,” Nadir said.
On September 15, the government signed a US$7.56 million contract with Chinese firm Haier Electrical Appliances Ltd for the supply of 27,000 netbooks for the OLPF Project. According to
