FALMOUTH, Trelawny

In an effort to become computer literate and to be able to provide better service to their constituents, councillors at the Trelawny Parish Council are soon to commence a three-month course in computer lessons.

According to chairman of the local body, Colin Gager, classes – which will run for two hours daily- for the nine elected representatives will begin on January 28 at the Heart Trust Vocational Training Centre in Falmouth.

Underscoring the need to become computer literate, Gager told the OBSERVER WEST that the councillors have decided to use their personal resources to fund the training.

“The councillors have recognised that the computer is needed in almost everything,” said Gager, who is also the mayor of Falmouth.

“There is a vast amount of known out there that is available via the computer so we have to become computer literate. We can’t be walking around with big notebooks … we should be able to communicate properly and be able to surf the Internet and get information off it that can be helpful to our communities,” he argued.

Mayor Gager, a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) councillor for the Warsop division was last month installed as chairman of the Trelawny Parish Council. He replaced the JLP’s Jonathan Bartley, the sitting councillor for the Wakefield division.