By Suelika N. Buchanan
Editor - SKNVibes.com
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His Excellency John K Liu handing over a cheque of US$60,000 to the Ministry of Technology, the Honourable Nigel Carty, Minister of State with responsibility for Information and Technology, yesterday, Thursday Feb 22. Photos by Stachio Williams |
(Basseterre; St. Kitts): On Thursday, Feb. 22 at the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) His Excellency John K Liu handed over a cheque of US$60,000 to the Ministry of Technology.
The Honourable Nigel Carty, Minister of State with responsibility for Information and Technology accepted the cheques on behalf of his Ministry.
There are high-priority e-government projects in the pipeline such as an e-mail system for the government service; an electronic human resource management system; meeting management software, and domain hosting and web portal services.
Also in the planning is a lab in the ICT centre for computer-based training to routinely train civil servants, those who are entering and those who are in the system and need retraining.
"We also want to give opportunities to the public, in particular the unemployed and those who are working on the Industrial Estate," the minister stated in a release..~~adz:Right~~
Ambassador Liu said that in response to the Government's call for economic transformation from sugar-based economy to the services-oriented economy, his government agreed to expand the scope of cooperation into the information and technology sector.
Liu said that during the Prime Minister's visit to Taiwan, last November, the two Governments signed a "Letter of Intent" on Cooperation in Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
"Under the agreement, my Government, in cooperation with the ministry of Information Technology of the Federation, will establish an ICT Center in St. Kitts later this year," he said. "The ICT Center will serve two purposes; one is to conduct e-Government projects and another one is to provide training to help your country achieve a computer-literate society."
Since 1998, his Government has committed US$60,000 each year for the St. Kitts Nevis Government to buy computers and a total of 400 computers have been donated to the government departments.
"I sincerely hope the computers would help to improve efficiency in operation and today I would like to make another donation of 60,000 US dollars to your government for the purchasing of computers and other related products, His Excellency Liu said.
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| Since 1998 , Liu's Government has committed US$60,000 each year for computers assisting in the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis' national development specifically in the area of computer application. |
Minister Carty after accepting the cheque said that there is no doubt that the Government of Taiwan as an esteemed friend of our Government and people for the last 24 years has made hugely significant contributions to the socioeconomic landscape over that period.
'Today, I am extremely proud as Minister of State responsible for Technology to be accepting on behalf of the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis in support of our information and communications technology initiatives in the public Sector," he said.
"The funds received here today will be used for the purchase of computers and related supplies. More importantly though, they will be used to support the ongoing transformation of the public sector into an e-enabled entity as we streamline, re-engineer and digitalize government's processes."
Carty reaffirmed that they will continue their work with the various ministries to implement communications systems and facilitate information sharing and resources management.
