Volunteer professional body kicks off in Guyana

Nov 01, 2008 News

The members of the Guyana Committee

The Project Management Institute Southern Caribbean Chapter (PMI SCC) conference and inauguration of the Guyana Committee got underway yesterday at Le Meridien Pegasus.
The event was held under the theme ‘Project Management: Methods and practices for sustaining business and development.’
PMI SCC is the leading non-profit advocacy organisation and professional network for the project management profession in the Caribbean region for almost 10 years, with more than 500 professional members in 13 nations representing a range of industries.
Almost one-half of the membership is PMI- credentialled, being the holders of the Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification, Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) or Program Management Professional (PgMP).
The PMI SCC is also a chartered component of the Project Management Institute (PMI), the global membership association for the project management profession, with more than 265,000 members in over 171 countries and 251 chapters around the world.
The Guyana Committee comprises six nominated officers to serve in positions of Chairman and Vice Chairmen of Compliance/Membership, Marketing/Sponsorship, Education/Certification, Technical Sessions and Special Events.
These officers are Oswald Dey, Patrick Thompson, Rawlson Adams, Bernard Carter, Balgobin and Hubert Robertson respectively.
This newspaper understands that the officers will serve for a period of one year in the first instance, to allow an election of officers to be held, the terms of office thereafter shall be for a period of two years.
Chairman of the Guyana Committee, Oswald Dey, in a brief address, said that the PMI SCC has taken a decision to extend its services here in Guyana with a small membership at this time, and due to this it was thought that the best approach is to establish a Guyana Committee.
According to him, the committee expects to carry the mandate of PMI SCC and the Project Management Institute (PMI) which includes creating awareness of the profession and PMI; connecting with the local network of professional experts from various industries through meetings, activities and educational programmes; assisting in offering networking with large and experienced local, regional and international presenters and participants; creating opportunities to learn, network and order professional development in experience towards maintaining the PMI credentials; assisting and facilitating examinations at local centres, among many others.
“These are just some of the aspects that the committee in its first instance will focus on,” Dey said.
He challenged the members of the Guyana Committee to make a concerted effort in executing their duties to successfully realise the mandate of the committee.
He noted that stakeholder feedback is vital to projects, and thus requested feedback on the activities of the committee.
According to Dey, there is a growing call worldwide for more accountability, and businesses are seeking new ways to be more efficient and effective.
“They are seeking new ways to capture critical data that enables management to make timely and appropriate decisions.”
He contended that project management provides that impetus within an organisation to enable it to be managed effectively.
“With this in mind, as chairman of the committee, I herby pledge to do my utmost to ensure that the mandate of the committee is being realized, and also to grow the membership of the committee even to the stage where we could seek to have our own chapter set up in Guyana in time to come.”
Also delivering an address at the event was Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Dr Jennifer Webster.
In addition, five project management presentations by professionals in the region on new trends in project management and achieving effectiveness in organisations through the practical application of project management were delivered.
Presenters were President of PMI SCC, Michael Charles; President of ABT Engineers and Constructors Limited, Rick Dow; Mark Hopkins of Fijitsu Caribbean and PMI SCC; Managing Director of Rivelin Consultants Limited, Mithra Rampersaud; and Director of Guyana Agribusiness Development Company, Hubert Robertson.