Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Dr Vincent Adams has praised moves by oil major ExxonMobil and its prime contractors to hire specialists for in-house oversight of the environment as he highlighted that the regulatory body faces challenges in filling those positions because of the lack of local personnel and money to pay overseas specialists.
“The more highly skilled people that they can hire, [it] is better not only for their company and its operations, but the EPA and Guyana as a whole as it gives this nation confidence in their operations,” Adams told Stabroek News. “I am pleased that they are going to be hiring the best and most capable employees. I do not have that luxury. I can advertise locally and if it is not available, which might be 90 per cent of the case, I can look abroad also, but can I afford it?” he said.
Recently, among a number of other vacancies, ExxonMobil advertised for an environmental and regulatory coordinator while TechnipFMC is seeking contractors to provide waste treatment and disposal services and Schlumberger had sought contractors to do air quality testing.