Chief executive officer of the universal Service Fund (USF) Daniel Dawes (third left), and Member of Parliament for St Catherine West Central Dr Christopher Tufton (fourth right) lead in celebrating the establishment of a free secured Wi-Fi hotspot in the community of Point Hill, in the parish, on August 4.

Others (from left) are vice-president of the Point Hill Community Development Committee Anna-Kim Williams, field supervisor with the Social Development Commission (SDC) Jeremy Jones, Community Development Officer with the SDC Shaunette Flemming, Corporal Dennis Williams, and Guidance Counsellor at Point Hill Primary School Feliciano Thorpe.

Residents in the St Catherine community will now have an opportunity to further enhance their development with proper use of the technology.

Noting that the “empowering tool” is for everybody in the area, Tufton argued that the facility is the “gateway to the world” and it must be used for information and for the “right reason”.

Tufton, who is also minister of health and wellness, noted that he will be building on the opportunity provided by the system, such as the setting up of a supervised area for students to do research at the nearby resource centre.

Marketing and public relations manager at the USF, Okema Hamilton, said the objectives of establishing the hot spots islandwide are the expansion in computer literacy for residents, improved performance by students, creation of opportunities, and the acquisition of “valuable skills”.

For her part, Williams said children will be able to go to a safe area at the community centre and do their homework and complete projects, while farmers can use the facility to research the latest technology to boost their farming.

The USF, an agency of the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology, has commissioned hundreds of Wi-Fi hot spots and community access points (CAPs) across the island, and is executing projects valued over $1.2 billion for the current financial year.