Akyem Asuom: Ursula Cuts Sod For Construction Of 30 Community ICT Centres

The Minister for Communications Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has cut the sod for the construction of 30 community ICT centres (CICs) at Asuom in the Kwaebibirem Municipality.

The construction of the ICT centres according to her forms part of Akufo-Addo’s led government vision to improve the quality of education in Ghana.

Speaking at the sod cutting ceremony, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said the project when completed would help school children in the locality concerning their educational duties.

‘’We live in very unusual times which have taught us that without technology, it will be very difficult for us to have a fairly normal life, as this corona virus persists throughout the world and forces us to live at a safe distance from each other.

‘’For the first time in our living memory, we’ve been forced to greet Nananom and ourselves without handshakes, our children need to study remotely, we need to have virtual meetings and talking to loved ones on phone or by sending messages is the only way to keep in touch among others. We have been locked in, businesses, social, economic and religious activities shut down and E commerce, telemedicine, working from home, and other remote or virtual activities are the best means of keeping our economy alive. Hand washing, Veronica buckets, face masks and hand sanitizers have become part of our everyday lives too.’’ She said in her opening remarks.

‘’Indeed, this period has clearly demonstrated that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is vital to keep us all safely connected today. The whole world was caught unawares with the scale and intensity of this pandemic which has brought our inadequate digital infrastructure into sharp focus. Ghana is better than most in our region but we still do not have the robust and adequate ICT infrastructure that can provide us with the tools we need to live and work remotely. Some interventions provided by the MOC which have aided our covid response include facilitating the establishment and management of the Emergency Call Centre (112) and the National Information Contact

‘’Centre (311), the Emergency Communication System and the Covid-19 symptom tracker App(*769#) to facilitate contact tracing and quarantine monitoring, assisting telcos to zero rate all health and educational sites and provide daily covid alerts to all subscribers free of charge,  providing all public sector workers with tools to facilitate remote working through the Smart Workplace platform which has connected over 200 MDAs and provided them with virtual office functionalities; giving Telcos free spectrum for 3 months to ease congestion on their networks among others. Many of these initiatives are the first in our subregion.’’ She added.

Completion

She further indicated the project is expected to be completed in six months period adding that, the contractors have been urged to exhibit professionalism in completing the work on time for accessibility.

‘’The Ministry of Communications expects the contractors executing these projects to complete all 30 CICs within six months and we will be closely monitoring progress to ensure its done according to schedule.

‘’I urge Asuoman, and all the 30 beneficiary communities to cooperate with the contractors and workers and give them the necessary support to enable them complete their work successfully. You must own the project and upon completion, ensure that this investment is protected and fully utilized for this and succeeding generations to derive maximum benefit from it. ‘’ she added.