THE MYSTERY donors offering 160,000 free computers for local schools yesterday hit out at widespread scepticism over their £400 million generosity, saying they would give the PCs to students at home if the government decided to spurn their offer.
Local computer hardware suppliers have been lobbying Education Minister Ouranios Ioannides to turn down the unprecedented proposal from an unnamed group represented by two local lawyers. The suppliers say the donation would ruin the local computer business.
The mystery offer has also been the subject for much negative press speculation since it was made public last week, with a number of reports suggesting there could be hidden motives behind it.
Faced with this barrage of criticism, the lawyers representing the unknown donors held a news conference in Nicosia yesterday.
Lawyer Christos Theodorou said the donors were determined to help Cyprus achieve higher technological levels.
“The decision to make this donation to the Cypriot people is binding and irrevocable,” he said. “In the unlikely event that the government of Cyprus decides to take a negative stance, then the donation will be made directly to the Cypriot people, and to every home where there are students or teachers,” Theodorou said.
Minister Ioannides has said the terms of the donation would be pored over by both the offices of the Attorney-general and the Auditor-general before being tabled before the Cabinet for approval. Ioannides repeated yesterday that the aim of putting the offer under the microscope would be to ensure there was absolutely no cost to the state.
Theodorou vowed the computers for schools offer would not cost the state “a single pound”.
He slammed those questioning the motives behind the multi-million-pound offer. “The planning for the donation began some three years ago and comes from people whose feelings for Cyprus and local education are so genuine and altruistic that they cannot be questioned,” the lawyer said.
Initial reports put the value of the donation at £12 million. This was later revised to £120 million, but Theodorou yesterday said donation was worth in excess of £400 million.
The donors were remaining anonymous because they wanted to avoid a flood of begging letters, the lawyer said. But he added, and Ioannides agreed, that the identity of the donors would be revealed if and when the Cabinet gave the go-ahead for the computers to be handed over.
Turning to the specifics of the computers offer, Theodorou said a central server would be established connected to the 160,000 computers installed in local nursery, primary and secondary schools and the Cyprus University.
He said the donation package included technical support for 10 years and that the donors would be in charge of systems support while the Education Ministry would control the content of the computerised educational aids.
“We will design the base of the system, the model of the system and its technical specifications. When it comes to educational content, that will be given to us by Education Ministry, because it defines the policy and specifications,” Theodorou said. Getting the system up and running and the computers installed in schools would take three years, he said.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
