Regional News of Sunday, 16 May 2004

Source: GNA

First Internet cafe opened at Wa

Wa, May 16, GNA - Mr SARUNAH Mogtari, Upper West Regional Minister on Friday inaugurated the first breed band internet facility at Wa with a call on business people to under take more of such private initiatives to speed up development in the region. He said the establishment of the facility was in line with the government aim of making information technology a core ingredient of the economic advancement of the nation. The facility is the brain-child of MAANA LINX-Broadband Internet Services based at Wa with links to Busy Internet, Accra.
Mr Mogtari urged management of the facility to consider the financial plight of the people and make their fees moderate to enable many people in the area to have access to the Internet. They must also guard against people using it for fraudulent activities such as '419 scams' or the youth who would want to use it to explore sources of pornographic material, which would in the end, corrupt their morals.
Mr Seidu Adamu SARUNAH, Chief Executive Officer of MAANA-LINX, said the aim of his organisation was to link the region to the rest of the world to accelerate its development. He said the facility would enhance access to new sources of drugs, medical research, new farming technologies and new methods of diagnosing and treating diseases.
It would also offer entertainment opportunities to subscribe and also serve as a convenient avenue for travellers who would want to transact business in the region. There was free two-hour browsing of the Internet by the invited guests and some members of the general public as part of the ceremony.