Takeover by foreign companies a possibility

Apr 16, 2017 News

“It will be the survival of the fittest” – Engineer

The emerging oil and gas sector has further highlighted Guyana’s existence on the world map. With

Veteran Engineer, Charles Ceres

international businesses always looking to invest, it is only a matter of time before local companies would have to compete against better skilled people from overseas.
This is the assertion of veteran engineer, Charles Ceres, who is advising local businesses, especially those in the construction sector, to fall in line.
“They would have to drastically up their game,” Ceres said.
Over the years, sloppy infrastructural works executed by local engineers and contractors have resulted in Guyana having to plug millions of dollars into facilitating remedial works. The two most topical cases in point are the $350M Hope Bridge, which now requires a $46.6M repair and the infamous $1B Kato Secondary School.
“There are only two words that I can use to describe what is happening right now in Guyana, in terms of infrastructure works. Gross incompetence,” Ceres said.
The Managing Director of Ceres Ground Structures Engineering Consultants is of the firm belief that if local companies do not improve on their standards and work towards developing capacity, they will fall behind.
“The kind of works and unprofessionalism that you see taking place here in Guyana, you can’t see it happening anywhere else,” Ceres posited.
It is therefore predicted that overseas companies with higher levels of professionalism and capacity, may very well start bidding on major projects. Their ability to deliver properly executed projects may also result in them being preferred, which would in turn, plummet local companies that are substandard into a state of irrelevance.
Asked specifically about the probability of a takeover of sorts, Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman said, “Anything is possible if it is allowed.”
Government will not be allowing any such takeovers, he added. This brings into focus, the Local

Natural Resources Minister, Raphael

Content Policy.
“Right now, we are in the process of having discussions. There are the regulations, but we are expected to meet with members of the Oil and Gas Association and the private sector and so on,” Trotman added.
A few months ago, Trotman had opined that it would be unfair to ask foreign investors to employ untrained locals, saying that Government will be working along with companies and training institutions to provide the requisite training for Guyanese professionals.
During the construction of the Guyana Marriott Hotel, Chinese workers were favoured over Guyanese. There were claims at that time, that locals were not efficient enough.
In the case of Charles Ceres, his company recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Fugro, so as to secure its qualified presence in the internationally-dominated oil and gas industry.
Fugro is one of the world’s leading experts in the studies and infrastructure involved in the exploration of oil and gas.
During the announcement of the MoU, Ceres had stressed the need for local presence in this very wealthy sector.
“We are in the forefront of doing that. I think that this is the first time that we’ve had an international company and a local company partner to provide some level of local content to the development of the country’s oil and gas resources,” Ceres told Kaieteur News.
But the partnership is not one-sided. Ceres Ground Structures Engineering Consultants is perhaps the leading onshore geotechnical engineering company in the country. Fugro stands to gain from the backings of Ceres Engineering, as it looks to build a comprehensive presence here in Guyana.

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