Paulwell ONLY FOUR of the nine Information Technology (IT) projects approved for Government financing had received disbursements, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Technology, Phillip Paulwell, confirmed yesterday.
Mr. Paulwell informed the House of Representatives, as the Budget Debate continued, that only $339 million, including the $64 million for Jamaica Call Centre Limited (JCCL), of the approximately $999 million committed to nine projects approved for Government financing had been disbursed.
Information provided by the Minister showed the following disbursements: Jamaica Call Centre Limited $64 million; Netserv Communications (Jamaica) Limited $109.2 million; Baytel $31 million; and Teleservices $135 million.
The companies that have been approved but have not yet received financing are: Caribbean Telecom, Pathway Technologies, Teleconnections Limited, Savilent Inc. and Caytech Jamaica Limited. These five companies are scheduled to produce nearly 10,000 of the 40,000 jobs which the Minister had predicted would come onstream in the IT sector by next year.
Among the four companies that have received disbursements, only JCCL has received its full amount. Teleservices, which received $91 million less than its full amount, is expected to deliver 14,000 jobs by next year; Netserv, expected to deliver 10,000 jobs, got approximately $71 million less; Baytel's (150 jobs) is $4 million below.
Mr. Paulwell said the rest of the financing was being sought from international agencies. He said his Ministry received just over $1 billion last year in the budget for IT research and development.
The money was disbursed as follows: Factories Corporation of Jamaica (for office infrastructure) $72.74 million; loans through the NIBJ $554.36 million; Venture Capital Fund $36.30 million; human resource development (HEART) $203.50 million; community, disabled and National Youth Service training $31 million; establishment of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) access in post offices $31.63 million; ICT development work $10.42 million; promotions and marketing $54.92; and project management/administration and contingencies $7.33 million.
He said the reduction in the budget was not an indication the government was any less committed to the sector, but simply meant a shift in financing strategy.
He said the sector would now have to depend on international financial support to achieve its targets. Already there were discussions with the IDB, a facility which now seems imminent. There were also discussions with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to support the private sector projects which have not been funded.
