KINGSTON, Jamaica – Approximately 1,500 residents from three communities in St Andrew West Central now have greater access to the Internet.

This follows the official commissioning into service of safe, secured community Wi-Fi in Tower Avenue, Cockburn Pen and Penwood.

The three sites, established by the Universal Service Fund (USF), were officially commissioned into service by Prime Minister and member of parliament for the area, Andrew Holness, on Thursday.

He was joined by Minister of Science, Energy and Technology Daryl Vaz; mayor of Kingston, Senator Councillor Delroy Williams; chief executive officer, USF, Daniel Dawes and other stakeholders.

Addressing the commissioning ceremony held at the Andrews Mews Recreational Park, Prime Minister Holness said the Government remains committed to providing Internet access to Jamaicans and making the transition to a digital society.

He urged the residents to use the facilities wisely for education and self-improvement.

“On the information highway are vehicles that can uplift us, elevate us, that can take us to places that make us better people, that can help us to fulfil our dreams and aspirations. And so, the Government is interested in ensuring that every Jamaican can get access to the information highway, because information that you convert to knowledge that gives you wisdom, is power,” he said.

“It is not a waste of public resources to give every Jamaican citizen, as much as we can, access to the Internet,” he contended.

The Prime Minister noted that the Government is spending millions of dollars to boost public access to Wi-Fi in urban and high-trafficked areas, as well as communities.

Such access, he argued, is critical, as more businesses and services are being provided digitally.

“As the society moves towards becoming more online, we must get all Jamaicans online…We are beginning to see the Internet as a public good and, therefore, the Government has a duty to ensure that whatever we conceive to be a public good, that the public has access to it. We want everyone – poor, rich, middle income – to have access to the Internet,” he said.

The Prime Minister noted that programmes will be developed to assist the elderly and other persons who are not digitally literate and charged the USF to create a cohort of online trainers/coaches from beneficiaries of the Technology Advancement Programme (TAP) to support this effort.

The USF CEO, for his part, said the organisation continues to accept applications for the TAP and urged individuals to contact the agency.

“We have vacancy for another 100 persons,” he indicated.

In his remarks, Vaz said that another location in the constituency will also benefit from Internet access.

He informed that $1.3 billion has been earmarked for additional community Wi-Fi in this fiscal year.

“While we wait on the bigger picture of the national broadband, which will give connectivity to every nook and cranny of Jamaica, especially those in the underserved areas, I am pleased that I was mandated by the Prime Minister that this project should take priority.

“We have now reached the stage where the Ministry of Finance will be signing a transaction advisor in the coming weeks, which will allow for the process to continue for us to meet our target for 2025/26,” he said.

The USF is the Government agency mandated to ensure access to information and communications technology (ICT) tools to facilitate development.

– JIS