APNU puts Pres. Ramotar’s son under spotlight for E-governance project

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 21:00 by GxMedia

The suitability of one of President Donald Ramotar’s sons for the installation and management of Guyana’s long-delayed E-Governance Project is coming under scrutiny by the opposition coalition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).

That parliamentary grouping wants government to provide the resume of Alexi Ramotar as it relates to his prior experience with fibre optic cable installations, designing and managing a project of this complex nature.

Filed Monday by APNU Member of Parliament, Joseph Harmon, the question also asks how much salary and allowances is Ramotar paid monthly.

Saying that the US$32 million E Governance Project has suffered from extensive delays and there is to be modification to the design of the project, Harmon wants Prime Minister Samuel Hinds to tell the National Assembly what are the cost overruns related to that project.

Government has hoped to complete the project in 2012 but Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon quite recently said he expected it to be finished this year. He could not say during which quarter.

Luncheon said a lot more progress has been made with the installation of the LTE system from Moleson Creek, Corentyne to Charity, Pomeroon than the Lethem to Georgetown stretch.

Government is sourcing fibre optic Internet connectivity from Brazil. The cable originates in Lethem near the border with the neighbouring Portuguese-speaking nation.

The Head of the Presidential Secretariat admitted that reels of 10 kilometre length of cable had in some instances broken and so government was in the process of changing those to four kilometre lengths.