STRIDES IN ICT, COMMUNICATION AND SPECIAL PROJECTS

By: BALFORD HENRY

Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Information, Telecommunications and Special Projects, Hon. Daryl Vaz (right), addresses the post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House held on October 7. At left is Principal Director for Information and Telecommunications in the Office of the Prime Minister, Ms. JoAnne Archibald.

The Government placed increased focus on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) as part of a major element in the strategy for accelerated social and economic development.

“It is for this reason that the Government continues to pursue with greater purpose and determination, policy making, as well as legislative and regulatory reform in the area of ICT,” said Minister without Portfolio, Hon Daryl Vaz, who is responsible for Special Projects and overseeing Information and Telecommunications in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).

Addressing Parliament in June, he said that a new ICT policy would be brought to the House, “that will speak to a regulatory framework that is appropriate for this fully liberalised environment and which should serve to bolster investor confidence and maintain Jamaica’s position as a regional leader.”

He said that the draft policy has already been subjected to extensive consultations, and that former Minister of Technology, Phillip Paulwell, and colleague Opposition spokesperson for Information, Lisa Hanna, had both been invited to participate in the final review of the document.

According to the Information Minister, strides have been made under the Government of Jamaica/Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-funded ICT project, which has been extended by one year, to June 2010 to facilitate the completion of the online tax payment system.

So far, the project has upgraded the infrastructure of Fiscal Services Limited (FSL), a diversified information service company providing a full range of computer services, such as software development and technical support to the Government, at a cost of over US$4 million.

The Minister said that a “steady increase” in the use of the facility has been detected, and FSL is now re-engineering the tax processes, to finalise an e-filing application component that will allow online filing of tax returns.

General and Special Consumption Tax filing are being accommodated and Pay As You Earn (PAYE), National Insurance Scheme (NIS), HEART and Education Tax, are being added.

Turning to the Universal Access Fund (UAF), he informed that some $5.5 billion had been collected up to late 2009, of which nearly $3 billion had been committed to the e-learning project. The UAF has financed the installation of computers, including software for the hearing impaired, in 19 libraries.

More than 160 high schools, five community colleges, six special schools and eight teachers’ colleges have been outfitted with audio-visual equipment and educational material on CDs and DVDs under this programme. Computers and networks have been fully installed in 143 high schools, three special schools and six teachers’ colleges.

The project has trained over 7,000 teachers and lecturers, of which 2,200 are fully certified to use information and communication technologies.

Minister with responsibility for Information, Telecommunications and Special Projects in the Office of the Prime Minister, Hon. Daryl Vaz (left) greets founder of the Sir Howard Cooke’s Thursday Group Character Development Centre, former Govenor-General, the Most Hon. Sir Howard Cooke, as the Centre officially opened its computer lab and internet cafe on Thursday December 3.

In addition to the provision of computers and other hardware, a great deal of work is being done in the development and delivery of subject content to support the project.

Communication

Following the Budget Debate in May, the Prime Minister started a series of live appearances, or Town Hall Meetings, which took him across the country discussing issues with the public, one-on-one. Sessions were held in Mandeville, Manchester; Portmore, St. Catherine; Junction, St. Elizabeth; Ocho Rios, St. Ann; Montego Bay, St. James; University of the West Indies, Mona, St. Andrew; and May Pen Clarendon;

During the year, the Broadcasting Commission took steps to improve the quality of the content transmitted by the electronic media through several directives. These directives prohibited the use of songs promoting open and violent sexual stimulation; required the discontinuation of playing songs which have to be bleeped because of foul content; and prohibited songs with lyrics promoting murder and other acts of violence.

Although the directives attracted some criticism initially, eventually it was generally accepted that there was a need to regulate these songs and this fitted with the National Transformation Programme’s efforts to reduce these activities on public transportation, as well.

Mr. Vaz commended the Commission for introducing a “citizen-based media monitoring programme” as a follow-up to the directives.

“We now have volunteers across the island helping to monitor television and radio output, and the process of regulating the standards of media output is ongoing,” he said.

During the latter half of the year, the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) introduced its Corporate Plan 2009-2012, which provides a strategic framework for the agency.

It outlines the path the Agency will take to improve communication outcomes for Ministers, Ministries, Departments and Agencies, as well as citizens, to enhance Government communication and providing value-added to its vision and mission.

Among the provisions was that the agency would staff and equip itself to become more efficient, effective and self-sustaining.

Although there was no final decision during the year from the Government as to how it proposes to utilise its communication assets during the transformation of the public sector, Minister Vaz suggested that this would be guided by a need to “examine modalities for regulating a converged environment and also for assessing the best use of Government’s communication assets.”

Minister with responsibility for Information, Telecommunications and Special Projects, the Hon. Daryl Vaz, speaking at a recent Post Cabinet Press Briefing at Jamaica House.

“The matter of mergers or the reconfiguration of the institutional arrangements, as well as the possible creation of a single regulator, may well be the outcome of the analysis underway, both internally and independently,” he remarked.

“Where there is common ground, is that wherever savings may be realised without sacrificing efficiency, or compromising the mandates of the respective institutions, they will be pursued,” he commented.

Access To Information

The Ministry is still working towards fulfilling the mandatory provision for a review of the Access To Information (ATI) Act and strengthening its provisions.

 The ATI Unit is seeking to implement mechanisms to allow for real-time monitoring and tracking of requests made of the public authorities and received a grant of US$380,000 during the year, to support its efforts.

Postal Services

During the year, the Minister received a plan to transform and modernise the postal service to facilitate online access to Government. The plan is being reviewed and should become public next year.

In the meantime, work has already started on modernising the Postal Services Act, to provide for the delivery of services consistent with current needs. Measures will also be put in place to allow service providers and regulators the platform on which to institute measures to enhance security and mitigate breaches.

Special Projects

On July 24, Minister Vaz revealed that a National Spatial Plan is being developed in addition to the setting up of a National Spatial Unit within OPM, which will work with relevant Government agencies to develop the plan.

The plan is projected to cost nearly US$1 million, of which the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) will provide a grant of US$687,000. The planning and development divisions of the Ministry will be executing agency and National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) as the implementing body.

Minister with responsibility for Information, Telecommunications and Special Projects, the Hon. Daryl Vaz, speaking at mobile telephone company Claro’s Corporate Christmas Dinner.

According to Mr. Vaz, this is important in terms of anticipating and planning for the physical and social infrastructural demands associated with major development projects being contemplated.

Harmony Cove in Trelawny is one such project. The single largest tourism development ever planned for Jamaica, it projected as an 8,400 room resort spread over 2,275 acres with a host of world class features.

The Government established a Harmony Cove Integrated Development Committee in April, comprised of high level executives from all relevant Ministries, and they have been meeting since to ensure that Trelawny is prepared to fully exploit and support benefits from this project.

A fundamental requirement of the National Spatial Plan is accurate and comprehensive socio-economic, geo-spatial and physical data. This is being pursued through the use of a combination of local expertise, the application of information technology, geographic information systems, global navigation satellite systems, web services and a database management system.

A virtual reference station network, Gfix.net, will support the execution of these operations and the delivery of services. The National Land Agency (NLA) is scheduled to begin offering access to Gfix.net network soon.

Development Approvals Process

There has been significant improvement in the development approvals process, which is overseen by NEPA. At the end of March, 345 applications were carried forward of which only 34 exceeded the targeted turnaround time of 90 days. In 2008/09, 65 per cent of the applications were processed in 90 days.

Parish Development Orders

NEPA, during the year, commenced community consultations in St. Catherine to inform residents of issues derived from the draft Parish Development Order. St. James has completed land use surveys for its growth centres and is currently meeting stakeholders.

Land Titling/National Land Agency

The Land Titling Division continues to reduce the turnaround times for certain transactions, such as single transfers and single mortgages. Two additional transactions were added to the Express Desk, bringing to six the number of express services.

The additions will be processed within five days, down from 20 days, at no additional cost to customers.
It is expected that these improvements at the NLA coupled with the creditable performance of the Land Administration and Management Programme (LAMP) will help to create security of tenure and collateral for Jamaicans, as well as drive economic growth.