Residents living along the Essequibo Coast and at nearby islands will soon benefit from passport services in their region along with the creation of hundreds of jobs to boost the regional economy and improve their lives.
This is according to President Dr. Irfaan Ali, who was speaking to residents of Region Two (Pomeroon- Supernaam) at the Rice Producers Association (RPA) bond in Anna Regina.
The President and other government officials spent a few hours on Friday listening to the concerns of farmers and other residents. There, one resident complained that residents of the region have to travel to Georgetown if they need passport services.
The President acknowledged that this has indeed been a challenge but noted that with the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector, which was finalised by his government, this can be addressed.
“A lot of these new technology, machine-readable technology and so forth, requires a certain level of internet connectivity,” he said, explaining the need for liberalisation.
The liberalisation of the telecommunications sector allows for other companies to offer mobile and internet services, along side other services.
And already, E-Networks Inc — Guyana’s only locally owned and operated telecommunications provider – landed the first-ever submarine fiber optic cable to the Essequibo Islands and Essequibo Coast.
This massive network investment introduces substantially more reliable and faster internet services to the Cinderella County, which has suffered from limited and subpar connectivity for decades.
And President Ali told the residents: “Now that investment has been made. E-Networks has just, at great cost, spent millions of US dollars to bring you that fibre optic cable here so that you can have the increased bandwidth and speed that would enable government to move these services to Essequibo.”
He also affirmed that the government will work to provide these services because the necessary technological infrastructure is in place.
Beyond that, he also highlighted that the Senior Minister within the Ministry of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh has already started engaging call centres to provide jobs in the region.
The establishment of call centres also requires reliable internet connectivity and the President was optimistic that this is now possible for the region.
Importantly, the President said that those call centres are expected to create hundreds of jobs for people in the region. And, with the creation of jobs, he explained that the regional economy will be boosted.
