GEORGETOWN, Guyana — Thousands of Amerindians living with few amenities deep in Guyana's Amazon jungle will soon have free access to computers and the Internet, officials say.

Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo said government-built computer centres will serve an estimated 65,000 Amerindians and help improve medical services for doctors in remote regions by allowing them to communicate via e-mail with staff in urban hospitals.

Solar panels also will be installed to ensure villages have an alternate power source, Jagdeo said late Wednesday as he celebrated the start of Amerindian Heritage Month.

The computers will be installed by next year, he said.

Jean LaRose, spokeswoman for the Amerindian People's Association, said the computers will improve living standards but she warned of political motives.

"It is an essential service that everybody needs, but we are well aware that gifts to Amerindians in heritage month" will be used to sway prospective voters, she said.

Some of Guyana's nine Amerindian tribes already have access to the Internet, especially those living in border areas near Brazil, Venezuela and Suriname. Those who live in central Guyana and along river banks do not, and are expected to benefit from the centers, which are part of a previously announced program that aims to distribute 90,000 computers to the poor.

A new fibre-optic cable network that was installed in January and runs from Suriname to Guyana will help provide high-speed Internet service, the president said. Construction of another cable from Brazil is expected to start in a couple of months.

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