Efforts are being fast-tracked to introduce educational programmes and training for the oil and gas sector. Minister of Natural Resources, Mr. Raphael Trotman, has revealed that his Ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, has engaged the University of Guyana and other technical institutes to discuss how their engineering and technology departments can be augmented to suit the needs of the sector.
Minister Raphael Trotman [fifth from left] and others who attended the recent meeting.
In this regard, Minister Trotman said that the Ministry has secured the assistance of the Governments of Chile and Mexico in the drafting of a whitepaper on the optimization of education. The whitepaper will be submitted to the Ministry in four weeks’ time.
The foregoing, in addition to other issues related to Guyana’ exploration of oil and gas, were forthcoming when the Natural Resources Minister met with members of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry [GCCI] recently.
The Minister attended the meeting in the company of his Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr. Joslyn McKenzie.
The purpose of the meeting was to give the Minister an opportunity to interact and update the wide membership of the GCCI about the Ministry’s activities as it relates to the development of Guyana’s Oil and Gas sector. GCCI members also had the opportunity to interact with Minister Trotman and discuss their concerns.
The oil and gas exploration is one that was birthed with the signing of an agreement between the Government, ExxonMobil and its partners. The contract was signed in 1999 by the previous administration but will be honoured by the current Government, according to Minister Trotman, who however assured that the contract is being reviewed by local and foreign experts.