Dear Editor,
My attention was drawn to an article which appeared in the Guyana Times of  February 21, in which a senior official of GNIC   appears to be complaining about ship repair operations taking place at Parika (‘Parika entrepreneur/GNIC at odds over ship repair service’). The official is calling on the authorities to close down those operators, and among the wide range of complaints are issues involving the environment which comes under the purview of the EPA, and damage to the seashore, a matter for Sea and River Defence officials.

As the head of a business with several ships of various sizes which constantly utilise the services of dry-dock facilities at Houston, Georgetown and Parika – the apparent contentious location, my company would beg to disagree with a number  of the issues raised by the GNIC official.

My company is of the belief that all of the dry-dock facilities are capable of undertaking ship repair and maintenance, even though some may be more technically competent than others.

Utilising dry-dock facilities, as is well known, is a very costly exercise, and depending on the work to be undertaken and the choice of facility, completion may take an extended time.

My company just recently had a very bitter experience when the engine of one of our largest tugs, the largest in the country, was rendered unserviceable and beyond repair as a result of sea water being allowed into the vessel. This debacle has resulted in my company now being saddled with acquiring suitable replacement engines to the tune of millions of US dollars.

As it relates to the hint of closure, from our own experience as a business entity closure of any ship repair and maintenance facility is not the way to go. Competition is the name of the game anywhere, and in a number of developing countries like Guyana, there is more than one such facility competing in what can be termed friendly rivalry. Therefore, the onus is on each individual ship repair/maintenance facility to  rise to the occasion.

It is only in a context of competition and not monopoly that customers receive value for money, as each business strives to keep its fair share of customers and even seeks to capture the attention of the customers of some of its rivals.

Take a look at vehicle body repair shops, which continue to mushroom countrywide. Even the bottom-house ones have their own following and are seeking to get into the action by upgrading.

I will reiterate that for any business to remain competitive, attention must be paid to the issue of comparative prices and efficient service, then and only then will the business be on par or a cut above its competitors.

The threat of laying off workers by GNIC therefore is not the answer. What I would suggest is for GNIC to do a self assessment of its ship repair facility and seek to identify the shortcomings and have these rectified in the shortest possible time.

Among some of the immediate areas that can be addressed as a first phase are customer relations;  worker /company relationship; management; whether the business environment is customer friendly;  and, as an immediate one-off, some sprucing up.

If and only if these areas have been addressed and there still appears to be no improvement will there be need for a second review.  Remember businesses worldwide are now competition driven; just take a look at how cell phone devices keep changing in the twinkle of an eye and before one can become acquainted with what’s on the market, a more upgraded device is advertised.

Yours faithfully,
Brian Tiwarie
Managing Director
BK International Inc