In a move aimed at enhancing career opportunities in technical disciplines that allow for suitably qualified Guyanese to enhance their career opportunities, El Dorado Offshore (EDO), a subsidiary of the Trinidad and Tobago-owned RAMPS Logistics, on Friday July 21, signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the New Amsterdam Technical Institute (NATI) signaling the commencement of a strategic partnership aimed at increasing the numbers of skilled workers in the energy sector, both in Guyana and in the wider Caribbean. The signing of the MOU signifies the commencement of a strategic partnership aimed at fostering growth and development in the energy sector and providing a skilled workforce for the region, functionaries associated with the finalizing of the Agreement told the Stabroek Business.
Under the terms of the Agreement which will be valid for one year in the first instance and which will be examined in the context of yearly renewal, NATI will provide El Dorado Offshore with lists of graduates in various disciplines including Masonry, Furniture Making, Plumbing, Electrical Installation, among others, which will then be examined by EDO with a view to identifying suitable candidates for employment with the company. Persons selected for employment with EDO will, simultaneously, benefit from wider professional development and upper mobility opportunities within the broader energy sector, as part of the overarching provisions of the Agreement. Both the NATI and the EDO regard the recent signing of the Agreement as, potentially, a precursor to a longer-term partnership between the two institutions. The signing of the Agreement is being seen as a practical step in the ongoing cementing of constructive relations between oil and gas and other service-related foreign companies operating in Guyana and the Guyana oil and gas industry, as a whole.
EDO representatives participating in the signing of the Agreement told the Stabroek Business that beyond the provisions of the signed agreement, the company will be seeking to provide various other relevant forms of support for the career pursuits of NATI graduates. These will include the placement of students with other clients in the sector. Commenting on the development, EDO Local Content and Industrial Relations Director, Sherry Ferrell, expressed the company’s keenness to be part of the collaborative effort with NATI. She said that the initiative should be seen as a component of EDO’s broader focus on working together with NATI, to “provide career opportunities for its graduates and to contribute to the overall growth and development of the technical workforce in the region.” NATI Principal, Fiona Rassoul, said, that she believed that the collaborative initiative will “equip students with technical skills and opportunities, thereby fostering both personal and community growth.”
