Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley has welcomed an initiative by Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) that would provide high-speed internet connectivity to 1,000 vulnerable families in the first instance, under Government’s One Family Initiative.
Ms. Mottley insisted that Government was investing $6.3 million in CWC’s JUMP Programme over the next three years, which would see 3,500 households receiving a laptop and digital literacy training opportunities, as it seeks to empower the most vulnerable, and grow vibrant cities.
Addressing the audience for the launch and signing of the agreement at Sandals Royal Hotel, on Monday, she maintained that the vulnerable would not be left behind.
“The truth is that no state, no country can grow without settling connectivity. Whether through communications or transport and we have been conscious within the context of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, that this is the major obstacle that the region has to overcome, if we are to propel our growth….
“We have determined that … if we don’t look out for the most vulnerable, then we will never be able to turn the corner in terms of transformation and growth. It is for this reason that this Government has been adamant and focused on the One Family initiative in spite of the fact that we continue to be in an International Monetary Fund Programme… and in spite of the fact that we had to intervene and be able to assist more people than we would otherwise have expected that we would have three, four years ago,” Ms. Mottley stated.
The Prime Minister also discussed the soon to be launched Start Wise. “That Start Wise programme is not just looking for kids coming out of school, but looking for people who have already left school and, who, for some reason, may be on the block; they may be at home; they may be where ever…and with the pandemic intervention, they [the youth] have not yet collided with their purpose.
“The Government has said that we are going to give to those who need a second chance, you’re going to get that second chance. And those who may even need a first chance, we will give you that first chance because you deserve [the opportunity] to plot your future, not just based on the economy of Barbados, but based on the opportunities that are available to you globally because the digital highway is as important as the highway running from here, carrying us all the way up to Rose Hill, in St. Peter,” Ms. Mottley underlined.
She thanked Flow for partnering with Government on the initiative and challenged other companies and mainstream media houses to come up with publicity campaigns to get more companies and the public on board, so that the number of targeted households could be achieved within one year instead of three.
The JUMP programme with Cable & Wireless Communications, which trades here as Flow, is a partnership with Government, through the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs.
