New PPP/C Gov’t to engage technical experts on Local Content legislature 

 DPI, Guyana, Monday, August 17, 2020

 

The involvement of Guyanese in the Oil and Gas Sector is a top priority for the new People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Government, as such, they will be moving to implement legislation to guide the country’s local content within the Oil and Gas Sector. 

During a press conference on Monday, Ministry of Labour, Hon. Joseph Hamilton, indicated that the Government will be meeting with experts in the field to draft the legislation. 

“We have a legislative agenda set out that we will be pursuing in the new year to ensure that all of these things are refined and defined in the labour sector,” he said. 

Minister Hamilton remarked that he will soon provide updates to the media on the timelines, and engagements with the technical experts. 

During a media engagement on Friday last, Vice-President, Hon. Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, made known his displeasure with the wages being paid by ExxonMobil’s sub-contractors. When compared to that of the foreign employees, Dr. Jagdeo had described it as ‘inequitable’. 

Guyana officially became an oil-producing nation in December 2019, but had no proper policy or legislative in place to guide local content development. The Local Content Policy was completed by the former APNU+AFC Coalition Administration, in February 2020, and has not yet been laid in the National Assembly. 

Dr. Jagdeo noted that the PPP/C Government intends to have legislation on local content “which will be mandatory for companies to comply with”.