When the Carmelita Digital Connect Center first opened its doors in July, as area representative for Orange Walk East, Kevin Bernard stood proudly at the ribbon cutting ceremony, after lobbying between both the Ministry of E governance, and the Taiwanese Embassy to make this resource center possible for his constituents. The center came fully equipped with all technologically advanced resources needed for students and residents to utilize.
And only two months after it opened, the center was burglarized of all the computers and appliances inside. In a facebook post by the Minister, he expressed his disappointment, and today he had a lot more to say about the robbery.
Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health and Wellness
"I was so furious about that thing I think it's so disheartening to see that people will stoop so low you know as i mentioned in my local interview in Orange Walk, these digital connect centers do not come about just so it started when I was a Standard Bearer when I wrote the then Taiwanese Ambassador and I said I would want to see how you could, your government could support my constituency and at the time I wrote Proposal for five villages, and so election came I became the area representative and things changed because I then became the minister responsible for E Governance and then the Taiwanese Ambassador said you know what they have a digital programme but because my submission was for my area they had to look at the entire country and so we were able to then say we will focus on two for Orange Walk some for Corozal and we spread it across the country and the minister that took over the E Governance ministry when I took over this ministry then continued that same process. So in July of this year we were able to inaugurate and launch the Digital connect center just to see in less than three months it was vandalized and burglarized by the people that live within the same community."
"They stole every single thing from the modem to the printer, everything they only left two chairs in the room that was all because it probably couldn't fit in the vehicle but they stole everything from the community center and that's because where the room wa that also had a door that was locked so they had to have access from somewhere and that's where the police is now continuing their investigation as to how did this happen."
The Minister advises the public to report any instances of persons selling equipment that may have been stolen from the lab.
