TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
5,000 villages to get Internet access this year
Villages, Disadvantaged Regions Development and Transmigration Minister Marwan Jafar has set a target to provide Internet access to about 5,000 villages throughout the country this year
Change Size
V
illages, Disadvantaged Regions Development and Transmigration Minister Marwan Jafar has set a target to provide Internet access to about 5,000 villages throughout the country this year.
"I am developing online villages, and there will be about 5,000 of them this year," the minister said in Padalarang, West Java, as quoted by Antara news agency on Friday.
He was optimistic that the target could be achieved despite funding problems. "Time and again, there has been no budget for it," he said.
He reiterated that the government needed to promote Internet connectivity in rural areas as the number of online-based villages was small.
He voiced hope that NGOs and the private sector would support the online-village program.
"Some colleagues from NGOs and donor agencies are still working on a number of projects," he said without elaborating.
The objective of the online-village program is to facilitate communication and information to and from rural areas.
By providing Internet connectivity, villages could obtain information from the central government easily and vice versa. (hhr)
