Region Ten Chairman Sharma Solomon says he is displeased with the quality of telecommunications service provided in several Region Ten communities and will be submitting a request for a tower to be installed at Rockstone and for better internet service at Kwakwani, Ituni, Linden and Moblissa.
At a community meeting at Moblissa last week Sunday, Solomon said he raised the issue of fixed telephone lines in Linden with GT&T and internet service at the last regional community meeting on October 14. However, telecommunications service providers will be invited to the Region’s monthly stakeholders meeting later this month to begin dialogue on how they can address these issues.
Apart from the cellular services which are inadequate at times with dropped signals and poor reception in many locations, some consideration should be given to installing more easily accessible fixed line telephones at Moblissa, he said.
“This is the 21st century,” Solomon said. “People don’t live like this around the world and if people living like this it’s because they want to and I am certain that you don’t want it because it works at a disadvantage to your children.”
Solomon asserted that the same education that children in Linden and Georgetown enjoy including internet access, should be available at Moblissa and parents who do not demand equal access are putting their children at a disadvantage. He also said that he knows several illiterate persons who are making tremendous efforts and sacrifices to educate their children so that they can enjoy a better life.
In reiterating his displeasure with the service, Solomon said companies that set up services in communities are not doing the residents a favour; they are doing business and consumers are paying for the service.
As such, the people have a right to express dissatisfaction with the service if that is the case.
Referring to GT&T’s monopoly in the country, the regional chairman said the company must be made to do what is right for the people, “which is bringing the right service to you.” Solomon pointed out that none of the telecommunications service providers has made a public Wi-Fi hotspot available anywhere in Linden while such a facility is prevalent in communities outside of Region Ten. Region Ten residents have to let the service providers quickly address the inadequacies of the type of service they provide to the community, even if it means taking as drastic an approach as boycotting the service for a certain time.
“Then you will see how much you are worth,” he stressed, “because it means a large amount of financial resources they are having from you will be stopped.”
Noting that most Moblissa residents have cellular phones, Solomon said it means that they are contributing to the profits of the telephone service providers.
He also wondered about the population in Moblissa that have cellular phones as the households there do not have access to land lines, unlike most of the outlying communities in the region such as De Veldt and Ebini on the Upper Berbice River and Rockstone on the Essequibo River.
