From Isaac Akwetey-Okunor
The Minister for Communication, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, has called on the youth in the country, particularly those in Effiduase, a farming community in the New Juaben Municipality, to take the study of Information Communication Technology (ICT) serious.
According to him, for Ghana to improve on its social-economic dividends, there was the need for the country to build on both its human and logistic capacity, since the importance of ICT in the 21st Century cannot be underestimated.
He made the call during the handing-over ceremony of a multi-purpose enhanced Community Information Centre (CIC), constructed by Huawei Technologies and financed by the China Bank, to the community on Monday.
The project was one of the 21 such centres to be constructed by the government at a total cost of $91 million.
The short, but impressive, ceremony attracted very important persons in and around the community, including the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr. Antwi Boasiako-Sekyere, the New Juaben Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr. Kwaku Owusu Acheampong, and the chief of the area.
Throwing light on the essence of the communication information centre, the Communication Minister stated that it would go a long way to provide accessibility to members of the community, who, otherwise, do not have money to acquire a computer.
“Not everybody in the community would have money to either acquire a computer or internet accessibility, but with the establishment of the centre, everybody, irrespective of the social class, could go and access both a computer and internet at a minimum cost,” he added.
The Minister urged members of the community to see the centre as their personal property and take good care of it, in order to improve its lifespan for generations yet unborn to also use.
The Chief of the area, Okoawia Dwomo Baabu II, expressed his profound gratitude to the government for considering his community among the thousands in the country, and further promised to ensure a high sense of maintenance culture.
The Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Ms Sun Baohong, assured Ghanaians about her country’s readiness to support the development of the country.
According to her, China had reached where it is, because of the seriousness attached to ICT, and further urged Ghanaians to take ICT serious, since its role in nation building is overwhelming in the 21 Century.