Wed | Jan 21, 2026

Wi-Fi portal installed in East Kingston community

Published:Saturday | January 8, 2022 | 12:11 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
Superintendent of Police, Tommie Lee Chambers (left), Phillip Paulwell (second left) member of parliament, Kingston East and Port Royal and Daniel Dawes (right) pose with Hazel Espeut (second right), shortly after she was presented with a tablet computer b
Ian Allen
Superintendent of Police, Tommie Lee Chambers (left), Phillip Paulwell (second left) member of parliament, Kingston East and Port Royal and Daniel Dawes (right) pose with Hazel Espeut (second right), shortly after she was presented with a tablet computer by the member of parliament. Hazel Espuet is a 105-year-old woman who resides in McIntyre Villa but still goes online to read and access biblical messages. Occasion was the launch of the Community Wi-Fi Hotspot by the Universal Service Fund in McIntyre Villa on Friday.

The Universal Service Fund (USF) yesterday launched another ‘Community Connect’ Wi-Fi portal at the McIntyre Villa Community Centre in Kingston and urged residents and especially students to make the best use of the technology.

The USF intends to roll out 189 such facilities across Jamaica before the end of March 2022.

Daniel Dawes, chief executive officer of the agency, emphasised the level of financial commitment to carry out the worthwhile venture.

“It is not cheap … $7.5 million to deploy anything of this kind in the constituency. We are looking at almost $400 million, so this is a very expensive, very worthwhile investment in the development of McIntyre and, by extension, throughout the length and breadth of this country,” Dawes said.

He urged the students to utilise the technology, noting that it was their Member of Parliament (MP) Phillip Paulwell, then minister of energy, whose 2005 brainchild, the Universal Access Fund, is now the Universal Services Fund.

Debbie Meek, principal of Elletson Primary and Infant School, told the gathering that it was the right time for the launch as many students would not be able to participate in face-to-face learning at this time.

“Having the community Wi-Fi is right on time, although we would have wanted it earlier. God’s timing is perfect and right on time … get your children on the online platform,” she urged parents.

Meek also told the parents to help their children protect the devices used to connect to the Internet.

Paulwell, who gave the keynote address, came bearing gifts and issued tablets to students, a 105-year-old resident and Meek.

He told the community that in addition to the free Wi-Fi access, plans are afoot to re-establish the McIntyre computer centre which he said had been plagued by thieves.

“I am embarrassed because I didn’t know that computers had feet and they could walk out of the lab. We’re going to put back the lab inside there,” said Paulwell.

The MP said he wants constituents to be computer literate, knowledgeable, acquire big jobs like programming, coding and not just call centre work.

The USF is an agency of the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology.