In 1763, slaves of the Plantation Magdalenenberg on the Canje River in Berbice rebelled, protesting harsh and inhumane treatment by foreign entities(1). While the rebellion ultimately failed, it precipitated events that led to Guyana’s sovereignty and nationhood. Those original Guyanese fought for the ability to own a share of the resources of this great land. Now it seems the progeny of those brave people are only too happy to invite foreigners to carve up the resources of the country and haul it back to their homelands to enrich their nations.
The development of Guyana’s oil resource is of concern to every citizen of the land both who reside here and those outside its borders. This resource will shape the future of the nation for generations to come. While Guyana has not been an oil producing nation and lacks the skilled population base to produce the resource, it’s important that its citizens be given every opportunity to participate in the industry. As such, the government of the day must have a well developed and articulated local content policy that recognizes the current skill gap of Guyanese within the country and take concrete steps to make a positive change. In addition to this, the government must actively recruit overseas Guyanese with the requisite petro-technical skills and professional networks to benefit their homeland.
I have personal experience with the latter issue. I was born in Guyana but moved to Canada to pursue post secondary education. I graduated from a reputable engineering program and now have 15 years of wide ranging experience in the oil and gas industry. When I learned of the fledgling oil and gas industry, I wrote the Ministry of Natural Resources in 2017 to offer my skills and experience to benefit the nation. I did not receive a response. I visited Guyana in 2018 and connected with a senior minister of the current government who promised to help. My phone calls and messages to this individual fell on deaf ears when I followed up a week later.
Undaunted I contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2019. I received a response and was put in touch with a senior member of the Diaspora Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a leading figure in Ministry of the President. I arranged to meet both senior officials in 2019 during my annual visit to Guyana. Only one meeting occurred but unfortunately did not lead to any concrete opportunities to use my skills and experience to benefit a nation I’m proud to call home.
I’m certain that I’m not the only Guyanese whose pride and love for our homeland stirs us to want to use our expertise to her benefit. As we go into a key election season, Guyanese must make a choice about which Government clearly values and encourages their participation in our oil and gas industry. I along with other Guyanese with petro-technical skills are only too eager to help if given the opportunity to participate. My commentary is not meant as a critique of the current government as my experience could’ve occurred with any government of the day. It should impress on politicians, who have the privilege of serving the Guyanese people, that other citizens also want an opportunity to serve in their own capacity.
Currently, Guyana does not have the skilled workforce to exploit the resource we are blessed with. We must carefully utilize the knowledge of foreign experts while ensuring that Guyanese are trained to do the work themselves. Whenever possible the government should enlist the services of Guyanese who have the requisite skills in the oil and gas industry. A part of a cohesive strategy may include creating a government office dedicated to recruiting skilled members of the Guyanese diaspora. A model that has been used in other jurisdictions that have a nascent oil and gas industry involves preferential hiring of Guyanese in key positions that are strategic to development of the industry. As a first step the government should setup a hotline whereby skilled Guyanese can call to find information about available opportunities or personnel gaps that need to be filled. Foreign companies that want to set up shop in Guyana should be required to demonstrate, to the government, that they’ve made sincere attempts to hire or partner with Guyanese citizens. If we are not careful as a nation, Guyana will be left as destitute as it was before the discovery oil while foreign entities help themselves to our wealth.
The current generation of Guyanese no longer has to resort to rebellions to bring about change to the nation’s policies. On March 2, the power of the pen and ballot will be mightier than the sword. Political parties are competing for your vote. Reward those who show that their local content policies will benefit this generation of Guyanese and those to come.
Yours Respectfully.
A Proud Guyanese
