Latest update November 29th, 2024 1:00 AM
Minister Bharrat says… Local Content Law trapped US$700M in Guyana last year
Kaieteur News – Following its first year of enactment, Guyana’s Local Content Law has been able to trap approximately US$700M in the nation’s economy. This is according to Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat.
Speaking with Kaieteur News, Bharrat said, “This is what is possible when the right mechanisms are in place to protect the interest of our people.”
Bharrat reminded that the law passed in 2021 prioritises the use of Guyanese nationals and Guyanese companies in the procurement of goods and services for the enhancement of the value chain of the sector.
The parliamentarian said the Local Content Act also serves to enable local capacity development and provides for the investigation, supervision, and participation in, local content in Guyana
Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat
Bharrat said his ministry and its officers have aggressively worked over the last year to operationalize the Local Content Secretariat which is governed and guided by the Local Content Act.
As a result of the Local Content Act and the work conducted by the secretariat, Bharrat said, “It is estimated that over US$700M was spent in-country as part of local content efforts. This multi-million figure represents monies spent on the 40 related sectors listed under the Act, the employment of Guyanese as well as monies invested to upskill Guyanese for the expansion of the country’s petroleum sector.”
The Natural Resources Minister said the Act has also facilitated the registration of over 500 Guyanese companies and the approval of over 29 five-year local content plans. He said further in-country benefits are expected with future amendments to the law.
The Local Content Law, as previously noted, serves to provide for the implementation of obligations on persons engaged in petroleum operations or related activities in the petroleum sector; prioritizes Guyanese nationals and Guyanese companies in the procurement of goods and services and enables local capacity development.
The First Schedule of the Act ring-fences 40 categories of work for Guyanese participation via the supply of goods and the provision of services which include: food supply, rental of office space, accommodation, insurance, accounting and legal services.
The foregoing categories carry minimum local content levels for which local participation had to be achieved by Contractors, Sub-Contractors, and Licensees in the sector by the end of the calendar year 2022.
Ensuring these targets are met is the Local Content Secretariat. The law allows officials attached to that body to have unrestricted access to a contractor, subcontractor or licensee’s facilities, records, reports, documents, data, and information. Such access is allowed for the purposes of monitoring, assessing, evaluating, investigating, auditing, and verifying compliance with the Act.
The law also empowers the Secretariat to develop and maintain measures for the effective implementation of local content by Contractors, Sub-Contractors and licensees.
The Secretariat can also develop and implement strategies that give preference to, or ensure equal treatment of Guyanese nationals and Guyanese companies as well as conduct market analysis and make recommendations to the Minister.
The Secretariat has several other functions which include conducting market analysis, making recommendations to the Minister, developing formats for local content plans and reporting, and developing guidelines for local content reporting, procurement and bid evaluation.
The Act obligates Contractors, Sub-Contractors, or licensees to submit a local content report to the Secretariat, within 30 days after the end of each half calendar year, which is referred to as the Local Content Half-Yearly Report.
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