PORT ANTONIO, Portland — Complaining that locally elected officials have egg on their faces after the Government halted an initiative to provide digital tablets to needy students across the country, Councillor Wayne McKenzie is calling for the resumption of the programme.

McKenzie, elected on an Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) ticket, represents the Prospect Division in Portland.

“The Government has not come publicly to Jamaica to say, ‘We have suspended or scrapped the programme,’ so the councillors will be at the mercy of the people where the people think the councillors trick them. Government has set us up! And I am making it public today. I am calling on the prime minister to ensure that the minister of finance honours the commitment to the children of Jamaica,” said McKenzie.

He was speaking at Port Antonio High School at a recent ceremony during which the PNP Women’s Movement presented 21 tablets to students.

The 21 devices were handed over late, McKenzie said, but at least they were provided — unlike those promised under the State’s Own Your Own Device initiative. Councillors, he said, were each asked to provide a list of 15 students who would receive tablets. They did, but the devices were never handed out.

“Around a month or two after getting all these information and recommending the persons, they say to us… ‘The programme has been suspended.’ It is saying to me the programme has been scrapped,” charged McKenzie.

The Jamaica Observer obtained a copy of a June 20, 2022 letter from the local government ministry’s permanent secretary, Marsha Henry-Martin, addressed to all municipal corporation CEOs. It advised that the initiative had been suspended until further notice. No reason was provided.

For Happy Grove High School 10th grader Shirlanna Weir, the tablet provided by Region Two of the PNP Women’s Movement is a welcome relief.

“This tablet is important for me as I really wanted [it] for school. I will be doing three subjects this school year and possibly seven next school year in grade 11,” she said.

“I signed up for this tablet from about a year ago. I was kind of shocked to actually receive the tablet but it is important that I received it as I will use it to do my schoolwork. I am glad I received it with the work of the women empowerment group. Thanks for the tablet. And I would say to all of us who received, ‘Let us use them for educational purposes and school purposes — and not just for games,’ ” she advised.

The Samsung devices were handed out by president of the PNP Women’s Movement, Patricia Duncan Sutherland.

They use SIM cards and are said to meet the standards outlined by both the education and science and technology ministries.

— Everard Owen