MY attention was drawn to an article which appeared in your newspaper of 21st February, 2010 in which a senior official of the GNIC appears to be complaining about ship repair operations taking place at Parika. The official is calling on the authorities to close down those operators and among the wide range of complaints are issues involving the environment which comes under the purview of the EPA and damages to sea shore, a matter for Sea and River and Defence officials.
As the head of a business with several ships of various sizes and which constantly utilise the services of dry dock facilities at Houston, Georgetown and at Parika , the apparent contentious location , my company would beg to disagree with a number of the issues raised by the GNIC official
My company is of the belief that all of the dry dock facilities are capable of undertaking ship repairs and maintenance, even though some may be more technically competent than the others.
Utilising dry dock facilities, as known fact worldwide is a very costly exercise, and depending on the work to be undertaken and the choice of facility, completion may be over an extended time.
My company just recently had very bitter experience when the engine of one of our largest tugs, and the largest such facility in the country, was rendered unserviceable and beyond repair as a result of sea water being allowed into the vessel.
This debacle has resulted in my company now being saddled with acquiring suitable replacement engines to the tune of millions of US dollars.
As it relates to the hint of closure, from our own experience as a business entity closure of any ship repair and maintenance facility is not the way to go.
Competition is the name of the game anywhere, and in number developing countries, like Guyana, there are more than one such facilities competing in what can be termed friendly rivalry.
Therefore, the onus is on each individual ship repair/maintenance facility to rise above the occasion.
It is only in competition and not monopoly can the customers receive value for money, as each business strives to keep its fair share of customers and even seek to capture the attention of the customers of some of its rivals.
Take a look at vehicle body repair shops, which continue to mushroom countrywide, even the bottom house ones have their own following and are seeking to get into the action by upgrading.
I will reiterate that for any business to remain competitive attention must be paid to the issue of comparative prices and efficient service, then and only then will the business be on par or a cut above its competitors.
The threat of lying off workers by GNIC therefore is not the answer. What I would suggest is for GNIC to do a self assessment of its ship repair facility and seek to identify with the shortcomings and have these rectified in the shortest possible time.
Among some of the immediate areas than can be addressed as a first phase should include, customer relations; worker /company relationship, management, is the business environment customer friendly and as an immediate one-off, some sprucing up.
If and only when these areas have been addressed and there still appears to be no improvement will there be need for a second review.
Remember businesses worldwide is now competition driven; just take a look at how cell phone devices keep changing in the twinkle of an eye and before one can become acquainted to what’s on the market a more upgraded device is advertised.