Harold A Beharry is a quiet, seemingly laid back businessman who does not even dress the part. He appears entirely at home in slacks, short-sleeved shirts and trainers…never mind he is the nephew of the legendary Edward B Beharry, one of the most successful businessmen in the history of Guyana. Part of the clan he might be but Harold Beharry has carved his own entrepreneurial niche as proprietor, first, of Swiss Machinery then, twenty years ago, H.A.B. International.
The latter company was established twenty years ago when the proprietor of Swiss Machinery began to ship items to Guyana on the daily BWIA –turned -Caribbean Airlines flight to Georgetown from Miami. Beharry says the role played by H.A.B International, apart from being a business pursuit, imbued in him “a sense of purpose” as a Guyanese entrepreneur. He explains that the service allowed Swiss Machinery to secure spares “for jobs being done by farmers, contractors, millers, loggers, miners and other industries.” Additionally, H.A.B acquired machinery parts directly for enterprises in the productive sector in order to keep the mills of progress turning. So concerned were the managers of local enterprises with the problem of down time that “the situation brought people to us from all over Guyana.”
Increased local patronage created an enhanced focus on improving the quality of service delivery and Beharry says that the extend of the demand for the services offered by H.A.B International resulted in the company registering an air shipping company in Miami in order to provide the service at a more professional level. “We immediately graduated to moving cargo of any size – from an envelope to a plane, as we put it – and in addition to moving emergency cargo with the daily passenger flight we also began to move cargo twice each week.”
Astute businessman that he is, Harold Beharry sees new opportunities for HAB International. He believes, he says, that a great need continues to exist for spares for industry in Guyana and is moving to take advantage of the proliferation of what he calls “the technology boom and the spread of the internet,” which, he says, has created “a new group of customers.” For H.A.B. International, adapting to internet shopping has been swift. “We are now positioned to shop, ship and deliver anything on the internet or as seen on TV.”
Beharry says that H.A.B. is a service-oriented organization that delights in the idea of providing a service through which Guyanese residing in the United States can have opportunities to send gifts to their friends and families. In order to facilitate its clients in Guyana, The company not only expedites approval from various United States agencies for the shipping of specialized items to Guyana but also uses its own credit card to acquire goods on behalf on its clients. Additionally, Beharry says, H.A.B. works with local commercial banks to facilitate the deposit of customer charges.
And according to Beharry H.A.B. is seeking to further consolidate its local operations to extend its services to various far-flung parts of the country as well as to improve the quality of the service that it provides. “We have recently appointed agents at several local locations including Rosignol, New Amsterdam, Rose Hall, Parika, Linden, Bartica and the Essequibo Coast. In addition to these appointments we are about to embark on a training programme that will focus on a higher quality of service delivery.“ The whole idea, Beharry says, is to create a company that allows Guyanese to collect their goods in the communities where they live. ‘Its all part of modernizing the service, of delivering a better product,” he says.
Currently, the primary focus of HAB’s activities is in the local mining and construction sectors. As the local agent for Cummins diesel engines Beharry says that the company’s services are in demand in the mining industry.
While Harold Beharry has been residing in Florida with his family for the past eighteen years, he is, he says, in Guyana regularly. Florida, he believes, offers him the best of both worlds, access to goods and services the are in demand in Guyana and quick and easy means of transport. “Florida,” he says, “is the gateway to Central and South America and the main supply port to the Caribbean.” Beharry visits Guyana at least five times a year.
Swiss Machinery, meanwhile, continues to provide what Beharry says are valuable engineering services for the local business sector. “We represent a need in Guyana that is yet to be effectively filled including the supply and servicing of fuel pumps for various sectors.
A member of the Gideon Church, Harold Beharry’s pursuits, business aside, includes the distribution of bibles. His father, Agaram Beharry, brother of the legendary Edward B Beharry, was a farmer in the Mahaicony area. Time was when he used to be a farmer too and he concedes that while he has long taken up alternative business pursuits he retains an abiding interest in the local rice industry.
Harold Beharry is focusing on further expansion of the services provided by H.A.B. International. He believes that recent increased access to the internet resulting from the greater availability of bandwidth creates an even larger market for businesses involved in moving goods and services to Guyana.
