Pomona Gains Digital Center through Taiwan Partnership  

Students and residents of Pomona Village can look forward to connecting with others through the use of the newly installed Digital Connect Center. The center was acquired through a partnership with the Republic of China (Taiwan) and was inaugurated on Tuesday in Pomona village. News Five’s Britney Gordon reports.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Shortly after the launch of the Digital Connect Center in Valley of Peace community in late January, another facility has been unveiled; this time, in Pomona Village, in Stann Creek District, as a part of the National Digital Agenda 2022 to 2025. Michel Chebat, Minister of Public Utilities, Energy, Logistics & E-Governance, attended the ceremony to express the importance of the center’s installation.

 

Michel Chebat, Minister of Public Utilities, Energy, Logistics & E-Governance

“Connectivity to the Internet and the wilder and the wider world is not a luxury in the fast paced digital era anymore. It is a necessity. As such, our commitment to closing the digital gap and making sure that no community is left behind is demonstrated by one thousand seven hundred villagers to this digital technology, to both digital technology and digital skills training through this center. I wish to highlight the forward thinking vision of the area representative, the Honorable Rodwell Ferguson, his steadfast support, commitment and consideration for his constituents. I express my sincere gratitude to the Taiwanese International Cooperation and Development Fund, the ICDF, for their important assistance in bringing this initiative to fruition. Their dedication, along with that of the Embassy of the Republic of China, Taiwan to advancing digital projects in Belize has had a significant impact on how our rural areas are being developed.”

 

This center was made possible through collaborative efforts with the Republic of China (Taiwan). Lily Li-Wen Hsu, Ambassador of Taiwan to Belize, spoke on the significance of this endeavor.

 

 

 

 

 

H.E. Lily Li-Wen Hsu, Ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to Belize.

“This center in Pomona is the first one being inaugurated in 2024 and three more Digital Connect Centers will be set up soon.  So I’m very excited that we continue to advance the digital transformation in Belize through the collaboration partnership between our two governments. Now, like every digital connect center we launched, this center in Pomona not only provides facilities like computers and the internet connections, it will also carry out digital literacy training courses so that participants of the courses could be equipped with the tools and capabilities needed in today’s digital era. I hope members of the community, or even beyond in the neighboring villages, young and old, women and men, will all make good use of these facilities and actively participate in the training courses to empower yourselves and embrace the endless digital opportunities.”

 

The Area Representative for Stann Creek West also extended his gratitude for the donation and hopes for the expansion of the project.

 

 

 

 

 

Rodwell Ferguson, Area Rep., Stann Creek West

“And regardless of whichever government is in office, we maintain a relationship with you because we know of your kindness and your one contribution to our small country. It’s a very small country and we appreciate every aspect of your contribution. Minister, you and your staff, when you call me I say, Minister, you want to take one digital connect to Pomona?  Right away I embraced it.  But I tell you, we got twenty-six villages and if you only bring it to one, then the rest might get jealous. So I’m hopeful that there is more connection to find more funding to do likewise in my twenty-six villages because we all have children and now the old age is over. We used to go to a library and do our research in books. Now all this research is done through computer. So it is very important for us to have that access for our children to gain the proper education they deserve.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.