GT&T pledges 13,000 new landlines
Hinterland targeted for phone booths
by Oscar P. Clarke
Stabroek News
January 30, 2004
Thirteen thousand new landlines are to be added to the existing 93,000 as the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company Ltd (GT&T) embarks on a US$15M expansion programme in 2004.
This is in addition to telephone booths for remote interior locations including Kabakaburi, Wakapau, Hosororo, Arakaka, Orealla, and Soweyo.
GT&T's General Manager and Chief Executive Officer, Sonita Jagan, speaking at a post-breakfast briefing yesterday which coincided with the company's 13th anniversary, said the company is committed to its expansion programme and landline services, and has not ignored the latter, contrary to the opinion of some.
According to Jagan, several inland and coastal communities stretching from the Corentyne coast in Berbice, Region Six, to the mining town of Linden and the West Demerara, will be in receipt of either new or expanded service as the company seeks to broaden its scope.
Among the communities targeted for services in the near future are Soesdyke, Den Heuvel, Coverden and Kuru Kururu through the installation of a remote switch at Soesdyke and Friendship, Vigilance, Bladen Hall and Strathspey on the East Coast Demerara via a similar switch at Vigilance.
According to Jagan, most of the installation work has been completed in these areas and service will shortly be offered to persons in these areas who need telephones.
Expanding on the telephone company's effort to take service to some outlying communities, Jagan said that telephone booths powered by solar energy will be positioned in areas like Orealla on the Corentyne River, Matthews Ridge in the North West District and Kimbia/Ebini in the intermediate savannahs.
Other remote areas on the company's first priority list include Moleson Creek and Mibicuri in Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne); Mara, Burma and Esau and Jacob in Region Five (Mahaica/West Berbice); Kuru Kuru, Soweyo and Muritaro on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway; Annai and Sand Creek in Region Nine (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo); Mabura in Region Ten (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice) and Santa Rosa, Wakapau, Hosororo, Kabakaburi and Arakaka in Region One (Barima/Waini). Jagan also identified the Region Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara) community of Hogg Island as well as Mahdia in Region Eight (Potaro/Siparuni) as the other areas on the priority list.
These areas were selected in conjunction with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which has been pressuring GT&T to extend service to these locations, and the local government authorities.
Meanwhile there are also proposals for a remote switch at Non Pariel, ECD, to serve the communities of Non Pariel, Enterprise 'C' and Coldingen, where expansion is expected and at Hope west to meet additional demands for service at Enmore, Hope west and east, Paradise and Foulis, the CEO said.
The CEO also alluded to proposed work on the Corentyne Coast where the villages of Belvedere, Doctor Bush, Guava Bush, Topoo and Nigg will obtain service through a switch at Nigg, as well as proposals for extending service to Rose Hall north to meet extra demands.
Lines will also be installed at Williamsburg, Hampshire, Clonbrook, Stockholm, Spring Garden, Harriet, Number 76, Number 77 and Number 78 villages, Scottsburg, Dukestown and Springlands on the Corentyne as well as villages between Number 48 and Number 55 inclusive.
At Canje, Adelphi will be the site for a landline switch to service the communities of Reliance, Adelphi, Good Banana Land, Betsy Ground, Little Bleyendaal and Goldstone Hall. At Sheet Anchor, another switch will allow persons in Kintyre, Palmyra, Seawell, Ordnance Fort Lands to benefit from telephone service.
Limited telephone access is also planned for Fyrish, Gibraltar, Courtland and Chesney through the extension of a switch at Kilcoy. Jagan suggested plans for a second switch in the future.
On the West Coast Berbice, residents of Naarstigheid, Bath, Experience, Hope, Waterloo, Woodley Park, Woodlands, Friends, Retreat, Expectation and Number Eight village are all earmarked for service when a switch is sited at Bath Settlement. This service is likely to be activated by the second quarter of the year, Jagan said.
According to Jagan, several wards in the city will also benefit from fixed line service in the 2004 expansion programme, including South Ruimveldt, Newburg/Werk-en-Rust east, Stabroek west/Werk en Rust west, and Roxanne Burnham Gardens, Guyhoc Gardens and Shirley Field-Ridley Square.
Some of these areas currently being serviced by the Fixed Wireless Service (FWS) will be switched to the Fibre Optic system as the telephone company seeks to reduce its maintenance cost and offer a service better suited to these communities environment, Jagan said.
However, she acknowledged that the FWS, in existence in other areas, is still a good service once there is a reliable source of power.
On the West Bank and West Coast Demerara, residents at New Road, Vreed-en-Hoop, Best and Crane villages will also benefit from improved telephone service, the CEO said.
Service is also likely to be extended to regularised squatting communities at Prem Nagar, Ocean Gardens and Railway View on the West Coast Demerara.
According to the CEO, some work in other communities where business development is imminent will continue to be pursued.
In relation to expansion on the Essequibo Coast, Jagan mentioned the likelihood of increasing the FWS use there, but this will be dependent on the evolution of technology from the new owners of the system.
The decision to allot new services across the country was influenced by population density as well as growth in several new housing schemes being regularised, Jagan said.
The ability to install service in some remote areas is being made possible though the company investigating various products over the last year and using technological developments to decide on a product that will work in these regions, the CEO said.
According to Jagan, the PUC is currently looking at rates for service to these communities, and has been active in encouraging the step. The communities obtaining the service will be charged with the responsibility of taking care of the equipment. She cautioned residents who now have access to telephone service to protect these from vandals and reminded that the company should be consulted before any digging lest cables are damaged.