Discarded computers set to make a comeback

Dubai: Donate your used computer for reuse, instead of throwing it in the waste bin.

Used computers can be donated at the Personal Computers and Refurbishing Centre (PCRC), formally opened by Dubai Municipality yesterday in cooperation with the Dubai-based Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Charity and Humanitarian Foundation.

The centre, opened on Beirut Street in Al Qusais 3, is the first of its kind in the region.

Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Governmental Sector Development, who inaugurated the centre, said the project will be of benefit to many individuals and educational bodies in different parts of the world.

"The ministry and the municipality have initiated this project to spread the culture of technology and protection of environment and also to help educational institutions," he said.

Project

The Global Information Summit held in Tunis in 2005 initiated the project of collecting, refurbishing and distributing used computers and their accessories.

Ebrahim Bu Melha, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the foundation, said there is high demand for used computers and related IT products from schools and organisations working for humanitarian cause.

"What is old for us is not old for them and it can always be reused by others," he said.

He said the Foundation received many applications and that there are a lot of less privileged students and people who need such equipment.

A senior Dubai Municipality official said the used or discarded computers will be repaired and upgraded at the centre, and will be donated to schools and charity organisations inside and outside the UAE.

Hussain Nasser Lootah, Acting Director General of Dubai Municipality, said the municipality will cooperate with the Foundation in distributing the computers that will be refurbished with technical support from Microsoft.

The civic body launched the project late last year and has so far collected a total of 1,289 computers, 1,243 monitors and 90 printers that have been donated by corporate establishments and individuals.

"We aim to collect around 5,000 computers a year and hope to make it 10,000 with more concerted efforts by different local and federal government bodies and the private establishments," Lootah said.

The project will also help reduce electronic waste in the country.