Monica Coke (right), governor of City College in Birmingham, England, joyfully presents acting Postmaster General, Michael Gentles, with a batch of computers for use in the Postal Training School at the Central Sorting Office recently. - CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
"TREMENDOUSLY GRATEFUL!" That was the sentiment expressed by acting Postmaster General, Michael Gentles, upon having been recently presented with 104 completely reconditioned computers for the Post and Telecommunications Department (P&T).
The computers were donated by the Jamaica2K (U.K.) in collaboration with its Jamaican counterpart, as well as the City College of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.
This gift, presented by Monica Coke, governor of City College in Birmingham, U.K., was the result of months of research, establishing alliances, painstaking effort and direct interfacing with the postal service's Human Resource Director Melvah Blake. Ms. Blake wears 'two hats' in this respect, in that she is also the Jamaica2K coordinator in Jamaica.
Liz Millman, coordinator of Jamaica2K (UK), supported this mission by making arrangements within the U.K. for the contribution.
TRANSPORTATION COSTS
The Jamaica Producers Group (JPG) underwrote the transportation costs from the U.K. to Jamaica and utilised ships that carried JPG exports to the U.K. Provisions were made with the Customs Department for P&T to complete the implementation of this project.
In his brief address, Gentles described the computers as "almost new" and declared that the intended aim of the project will be "right on track as they will be deployed in the Postal Training School at the Central Sorting Office" that was established last year, as well as training centres outside of the Kingston Metropolitan Region.
He added that the equipment would be of immense value to the staff who have been steadily seeking to take advantage of training opportunities for personal and career development.
Jamaica2K is a charitable organisation registered in the U.K. that initially envisaged a 'Millennium Project' in support of education by providing community learning centres in Jamaica with previously owned computers.
It was established with the aim of preparing Jamaica for the computer era of the new millennium by providing donations of used (but working) computers to select sectors of the society. The computers are collected from organisations that have retooled by upgrading their inventory.
City College is one such, and has sought to maintain a three-year inventory turnover to avert obsolescence, thereby providing its stakeholders with contemporary information technology equipment and capabilities.
Jamaica2K can be reached
by contacting Ms. Blake at 922-9430-8. The organisation's email address is lizmillman@ yahoo.co.uk. The mailing address is:
Mrs. Liz Millman
63 Linden Lea
Finchfield
Wolverhampton
WV3 8BQ
United Kingdom
