A lot of equipment provided by a US$27.2-million IT project in the central city of Da Nang have been found unused.
On August 22, Tuoi Tre correspondents arrived at the People’s Committee of Thanh Binh Ward in Hai Chau District and failed to use an automatic information search machine (AISM).
When asked about the equipment, a ward official said, “It has been out of order for a week.”
The same situation happened in the People’s Committee of Vinh Trung Ward in Thanh Khe District, where a local official told Tuoi Tre that the committee’s AISM has not worked for two weeks.
Six days later, on August 28, our reporters returned to these two committees and found that their AISMs still did not work.
Nguyen Minh Tri, chairman of Vinh Trung Ward People’s Committee, and Vo Thi Canh, deputy chairwoman of Thanh Binh Ward People’s Committee, told Tuoi Tre that few people used AISMs before they were out of order.
In fact, very few officials and residents paid attention to such costly machines, so the local authorities found it unnecessary to repair them soon, they said.
Notably, many wards, including Nam Duong, Hai Chau 2, Man Thai, Hoa Khe, and Hoa Quy, said their AISMs have touch screens only but have no central processing units (CPUs), so they could not use them.
The same situation was also seen in several communes such as Hoa Chau and Hoa Phuoc.
Tuoi Tre also found many AISMs covered with dust at the offices of many departments in the city, as few people had used them.
These machines belong to a terminal package of the project. This package, worth over $3 million, provided terminal devices to 91 people’s committees of all levels and state agencies in the city, Tran Van Dung, deputy head of the project’s management board, said.
When contacted by Tuoi Tre on Wednesday, Pham Kim Son, director of the Da Nang City Department of Information and Communications rejected the statement that the project provided AISMs without CPUs.
“We have provided CPUs for all AISMs, but they [local officials] have used them for other purposes,” said Son, who is also the director of the project’s management board.
Video phone left unused for 3 years
Signs of waste were seen not only from these machines but also from video phones that have been provided for chairpersons of the people’s committees of districts, wards and communes.
The above-mentioned terminal package provided about 400 fixed telephones including around 100 video phones for those officials.
Nguyen Huu Nam, chairman of the People’s Committee of Phuoc My Ward in Son Tra District, said he has not used his video phone since he was equipped with it three years ago, as there was no need.
Similarly, an official at Hoa Nhon commune in Hoa Vang District also said he had not used his video phone over the past three years.
Meanwhile, Nguyen Minh Tri, chairman of Vinh Trung Ward People’s Committee, said his video phone could not be connected with those of his counterparts in many other wards.
According to a company that trades in video phones in Da Nang, the price of each device is about VND22.5 million ($1,062), including installation fee.
Regarding this issue, Son (director of the Da Nang City Department of Information and Communications) said many local government leaders do not use video phones because they are not comfortable with new technology.
He also affirmed that such devises are operating normally on the local area network (LAN).
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