After a long wait and many old promises, residents of the agricultural West Bank Demerara village called Free-and-Easy commissioned their new Community ICT Hub two days ago. Villagers gathered at the building that is to become their community center to participate in the simple ceremony that culminated with the customary symbolic ribbon cutting.
Every officer in the National Data Management Authority (NDMA) who played a role in the creation of the ICT hub in this remote community was present, along with NDMA Chairman, Floyd Levi. He congratulated the residents for working together to raise funds for the electrical wiring and security of the building, and construction of benches and cubicles for the laptop computers which were donated by the Government.
Young UG student and resident, Alex Nurse, talked about raising funds from ‘Bring–and-Buy’ sales and concerts hosted by the villagers. He remarked that with their own hub, F&E students and small business owners will no longer have to travel the five miles to Patentia to research and complete assignments, and to source equipment for their farms and food processing businesses. One extended family already owns a corn mill.
Another young resident, Ryan Charles, highlighted the opportunities that are now available such as the facilities to train even the older folks to use the computers and internet, to find vacancy announcements, and to entertain their children. In fact, as soon as the ceremony was over, the youngsters rushed to the new laptops to continue what they had started on their own tablets and cellphones since the Wifi connection was installed at the beginning of August.
Mr. Levi pointed out that the Free-and-Easy Hub is one of many at West Demerara that NDMA has already commissioned or is leading towards commissioning, mentioning Stanleytown, Stewartville and Phoenix Park. He told the residents about available online government services including passport application forms, and encouraged them to live-stream their community events. He stressed that the ICT hub should always be available to every resident, and thanked the community management committee who will oversee training and knowledge-sharing activities.