Investment, Industry and Information Technology Minister Austin Gatt received a donation of e33,000 yesterday to continue reducing the digital divide through the implementation of various community development programmes.

The donation was presented during the official opening of the fifth Community Training Learning Centre (CTLC) set up in conjunction with the Richmond Foundation.

Richmond Foundation chairman Tony Gullaimer said that the Richmond Foundation aims to help people with mental problems by assisting and providing them with different services and helping them become better integrated within the community.

He added that exposing people with mental disabilities to information and technology will encourage them to integrate better in society.

The other four centres are organised in conjunction with the Eden Foundation in Zejtun, Access in Birgu, Unjoni Haddiema Maghqudin (UHM) in Floriana and the National Council of Women at Blata l-Bajda.

The CTLCs are projects run by the Community Empower-ment Organisation, a collaboration between the Investment, Industry and Information Technology Ministry and the Foundation for Information Technology Accessibility (FITA).

These both serve as a point of contact with various non-profit organisations that are interested in setting up the CTLCs.

Dr Gatt said that another five CTLCs are planned for 2007, making ICT learning and tools accessible to the community.

He added that a special effort will be made to make CTLCs more accessible to people with disabilities.

“The Ministry will also be looking into the provision of ‘assistive technology’, as the various kinds of disability require different types of technology to make computer applications and the internet accessible,” he said.

Michael Micallef from FITA said that the regional centres should be accessible to everyone.

“The centres should be available to those who are wheelchair-bound, and the ICT should be accessible for those who are blind,” he said.

Mr Micallef also pointed out that Malta does not have a speech synthesiser in Maltese and said “we urgently need to have one developed.”

He appealed to all those companies that are upgrading their IT systems not to throw away their computers but to donate them to FITA.

FITA have registered and been accepted as a Microsoft Authorised Refurbisher, which entitles them to free operating system licences and software for the PCs that will be refurbished. Maltanet will offer three-month free internet packages for the first 150 recipients of refurbished PCs.

The computers at the CLTC were provided by HP.