The Briceno Government asserts that by the end of the 3-year National Digital Agenda, Belizeans from Santa Elena Corozal to Jalacte, Toledo will be able to go online and apply for things like a birth or death certificate, a passport, and a national identity document.
But, that assumed that you can connect to the internet and electricity in all those places.
Yesterday, the press asked Prime Minister Briceno about the lack of access that plagues rural communities. He said that the government is already discussing increased rural internet access with BTL.
Hon. John Briceno - Prime Minister
"As a government we have been in discussions with BTL. BTL owes the government millions of dollars and we are discussing the idea of instead of them writing us a cheque, is to be able then to use that monies to be able to expand services into villages where they don't have access, in particularly in the south, because if we are going to move towards a digital economy then we have to ensure that everyone from the richest to the poorest, from every corner north to south, east to west can have access to digital services."
Hon. Kevin Bernard - Minister Responsible For E-Governance
"What is critical in terms of what the unit and the plan speak about is in terms of reaching out and having access especially to far rural communities. We have been able to team up with the Taiwanese Embassy and developing digital labs in the rural communities that will allow citizens to have access to these services."
The government says that in the very near future, it will be making announcements on their very own e-wallet and online payment services to complement their E-Governance push.
