The Private Sector Commission (PSC) and the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) have announced that they would continue to lobby for the unbundling of contracts and examine a 30- day payment period for small and medium-sized local operators in the oil sector.
The announcement followed a meeting between a PSC delegation and Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat and representatives of the Local Content Secretariat on Tuesday, to discuss local content issues.
In a joint statement, the PSC and the Secretariat said chief among the issues discussed were the unbundling of contracts to allow greater participation by Guyanese businesses in the sector and the lengthy time it takes for companies to receive payments. “On both matters, the PSC and [ministry] are aligned,” the statement said.
Local companies have complained that services they are capable of providing are often bundled with others that they cannot, thereby preventing them from bidding for some contracts in the sector.
It added that other issues discussed were the need for continuous awareness of local content issues and greater participation by members of the business community.
As a result, it was agreed that the PSC and ministry will convene a one-day forum in September 2022 to discuss local content issues, while both parties agreed to collaborate on conducting outreaches across the country aimed at sensitising Guyanese about the local content legislation and related opportunities.
The statement further said that as part of efforts to strengthen the local content programme and enable more opportunities for Guyanese businesses, Bharrat invited the PSC to be part of an ongoing process that the ministry is leading to examine the current schedule in the local content legislation and propose changes that can be examined.
The meeting, held in the boardroom of the Natural Resources Ministry, was attended by Bharrat, Chairman of PSC Paul Cheong, PSC Local Content Advisory Group members Shyam Nokta and Joel Bhagwandin, Executive Director of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry Richard Rambarran and Executive Director of the PSC Ian Chung, Director of Local Content Secretariat Martin Pertab, Senior Petroleum Coordinator Bobby Gossai, Head of Compliance Mark December and Legal Officer Michael Munroe.
