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Former T&T Energy Minister tells Guyana…Invest heavily in your human resources to protect your natural resources
Former Trinidad and Tobago Minister of Energy, Kevin Ramnarine has advised the government of Guyana to invest heavily in its human resources for the protection of its natural resources.
Former Trinidad and Tobago Minister
of Energy, Kevin Ramnarine
He said that the government should provide scholarships to enthused locals with the ability to do well so that they can in turn serve the country’s oil industry whether directly or indirectly.
Ramnarine gave this advice when he appeared at one of the lectures being hosted by the Guyana Oil and Gas Association (GOGA).
At that forum, Ramnarine, who studied Geology, spoke of how Guyana can learn from the mistakes of Trinidad and Tobago as well as how the country can benefit in patterning the things Trinidad got right.
“One area that I give Trinidad good marks is in developing talent. This has taken place through the UWI (University of the West Indies), UTT (University of Trinidad and Tobago), NESC (National Energy Skills Center) and MIC (Metal Industries Company).”
Ramnarine said too, “We have also used monies collected from Production Sharing Contracts to fund scholarships for nationals to pursue studies in geosciences, petroleum engineering, petroleum economics, and, very importantly, petroleum law.”
He stressed, “Guyana must have an obsession to develop its nationals in these areas.”
Speaking to one of the mistakes Trinidad and Tobago has made, Ramnarine said that Guyana should make sure, from the onset, that it pays its citizens working in the oil industry very well.
The former Minister said that one of the weaknesses of Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Energy is that it sits as part of the wider public service. He said that this means that salaries for the professional staff at the Ministry are much lower compared to their peers in the oil and gas companies, which is a “big mistake.”
Ramnarine said that as a result, the Ministry of Energy is constantly losing its geologists, engineers, commercial analyst and lawyers.
He told those who gathered at the lecture, “I recommend that Guyana seek to cure this from the onset.” Ramnarine said that the salaries paid to Government and state sector workers in the Oil and Gas Sector should be comparable to what obtains in the wider industry. He predicted, “If Guyana does not deal with this upfront, you will end up with the best and brightest Guyanese working for Exxon, when they should be working for the Government.” (Abena Rockcliffe-Campbell)
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