THE Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has submitted a model local content legislation to the Government of Guyana, saying that the move is part of safeguarding the rights of Guyanese businesses.

Hours after submitting the model legislation to President David Granger, Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin, and Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Basil Williams, on Wednesday, GCCI President Deodat Indar told reporters, during an emergency press conference, that the move was necessary to safeguard the rights Guyanese businesses at a time when Guyana is on the verge of becoming an oil-producing nation. Indar expressed GCCI’s disappointment that there is no legislative framework since 2015 when the first oil discovery was made in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana.

“From then to now we have not had a policy, we have not had any law, we have not had any fiscal rule or anything to say that there is a level of legal protection for Guyanese businesses,” the GCCI President told reporters at the chamber’s Waterloo Street head office. In the absence of a legislation or policy, Indar contended that some Guyanese businesses are already receiving the ‘bitter end of the stick.’

He contended that the draft local content legislation if adopted by the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) government, will fill that gap and correct the wrongs being done to Guyanese businesses.

The model legislation, which was seen by the Chronicle, defines Guyanese companies as “companies that are registered in Guyana where 51 per cent of the share capital are owned by citizen (s) of Guyana; where the board meetings of the said companies are held in Guyana; the head office of the company is located in Guyana and; seventy per cent of the workforce of the company follows suit with the definition of a citizen of Guyana as defined in the Guyana Citizenship Act of 1967.”

Part II, Section Three of the crafted GCCI Local Content Bill stipulates that an operator or contractor must ensure that first consideration is given to Guyanese companies in the provision of goods and or services directly related to the petroleum industry.

“In the event that a Guyanese company is not selected to provide a good and or services, the burden of proof lies with the relevant party in the form of the operator or contractor to demonstrate why [the] Guyanese company has not been selected,” Section Four reads.
It also includes provision for Human Capital Development and Monitoring and Accountability.

Indar emphasised that the legislation is necessary, noting that government should not delay the issue any longer. “Everybody will come here. This country is attracting investors from all over the world and they will come here, and we need to put things in place to ensure that the Guyanese people are protected to some extent…and given a fair chance,” he posited.

GCCI’s Senior Vice-president and Chair of the Petroleum Committee, Nick Boyer, said that the chamber had reviewed the first and second draft of the Local Content Policy, which was issued by the Natural Resources Ministry, but it left much to be desired. “In that policy, which contained quite a bit of preamble, there was not much explanation of what they were actually going to do to implement their policy and as a result of that, the chamber took it upon itself,” Boyer told reporters.

Alluding to the comments sheet on the Local Content Policy Framework, Boyer said there should be a clear plan of action by government to directly or indirectly support the development of the capacity of local businesses, as well as providing suitable infrastructure.

It was noted that there should be emphasis on ensuring the relevant standards and certifications are made readily accessible to Guyanese businesses. “A plan of action in this regard should be clearly delineated. A course of action similar to that of ‘STOW’ in Trinidad & Tobago can be explored to adapt for the context of Guyana,” the chamber said on the comments sheet.