GCCI to push for seats on 16 State Boards

Aug 02, 2017 News

The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) wants to have greater representation on certain State institutions. To achieve this goal, the Chamber will be pushing to have at least one of its members on each of the 16 State boards.

GCCI President, Deodat Indar

GCCI’s ambition was announced at the recent launch of its eight edition of the Business Journal.
At that forum, GCCI’s President, Deodat Indar, outlined some of the Chamber’s plans for the future.
He said that over the next two years the Chamber will be advocating for businesses more than ever before. He said that it will be pushing for reduced taxation and reduction of importation issues specifically with customs and food and drugs.
Perhaps representation on State Boards is seen as a way to achieve the other goals.
“We will push for representation on state boards for agencies that interact and interface with the population and businesses in order to contribute to the development of the private sector and Guyana as a whole,” Indar said.
He said that the Chamber is yet to approach the government with the idea. He said, “The GCCI will be making representation to the President of Guyana to have a seat on 16 state Boards so the private sector via the Chamber can have a representative and be a contributor in the true sense to the development of Guyana. “
Indar told Kaieteur News that some of the Boards the Chamber is interested in include those governing the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) and Guyana Oil Company (GuyOil).
He said, too, that members of GCCI have been experiencing many problems with the Food and Drugs Department of the Ministry of Health. Indar said that the Chamber is therefore recommending that a Board be set up to overlook the operation of the Food and Drugs Department and that a seat is given to the Chamber.
In a previous interview, Indar told Kaieteur News, “We have members complaining that they have been getting a hard time bringing goods into the country resulting in spoilage of imports and we have addressed the issues with the Director of Food and Drug as well as the Minister (of Health, Volda Lawrence.”
When he spoke about the ambitions of the GCCI at the magazine’s launch, Indar also boasted about the things the Chamber is already doing.
He said, “Our advocacy is loud on issues such as parking meters in the City and VAT on Private Tuition. We are contributing and advising on the improvement of economic sectors, such as agriculture, manufacturing, importation, wholesale and retail, small and micro businesses, forestry, financial services, construction, oil and gas and other sectors.
“We are working with other Business Support Organizations (BSO) to remedy issues and constraints facing these sectors in the furtherance of development of the private sector.”
Further, Indar said, “We are and will be working with the Ministry of Natural Resources on Local Content Policy and legislation, where and how we expend revenues from Oil and the New Petroleum Commission Bill. We are working with the Ministry of Finance on a Public Private Partnership Policy Framework and will provide input to the National Budget for 2018 via the budget consultation process.
“We are working with Ministry of Public Health on food and drug importation issues faced by importers and the procurement of pharma supplies by Government to ensure all private sector suppliers are given a fair chance.
“We are working with the Ministry of Business, Private Sector Commission, and Guyana Manufacturing Sector Association on a Business to Business Exposition which will be in April 2018.”

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