… plans to host Stakeholders’ Forum on Shipping
THE year just ended saw the Shipping Association of Guyana (SAG) making some strides in pursuit of its Strategic Plans for development of the Maritime sector in Guyana. The Association is set to resurge in 2012 with a well crafted stratagem to enhance its viability and the consequent growth of Guyana’s maritime industry. Chairman of the SAG, Mr. Andrew Astwood, revealed that the Association plans to host a stakeholders’ forum to discuss new challenges facing Guyana’s Maritime Sector. He noted that the sector has been experiencing constant growth and needs to raise the level of its readiness to meet the demands for modernization and competitiveness of Guyana’s port operations. The forum which is one of the major items on the agenda in the first quarter of this year is expected to address the multiple challenges facing the sector in a comprehensive and sustainable manner.
Guyana’s maritime sector continued to be challenged to respond positively to international developments in the transportation sector. The issues that have reduced opportunities for a more significant growth pattern are inextricably linked to the delay in dredging the Demerara Navigational Channel to an acceptable depth, replacing navigational aids and all accompanying infrastructure, and instituting effective port security measures. The Demerara Harbour is currently the main hub of all import and export trade. In 2011, the Association’s lobby to develop a Public Private Partnership that would deliver a workable solution to enhance and modernize existing port infrastructure attracted the support of the wider private sector, particularly the main business support body, the Private Sector Commission (PSC).   This initiative naturally has significant benefits for all operators in the maritime sector especially for entrepreneurs involved in the sugar, timber, fuel and cement industries.
Work with the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) also takes priority on SAG’s agenda for 2012. The Association continues talks with the Authority on the impending implementation of the Single Window Automated Processing System (SWAPS), a fully computerized system to be installed at the Customs and Trade Administration Department. Its main purpose is to reduce the time and cost of processing trade documents and quicken the pace of movement of cargo through the port. The effectiveness of this system has been well tested and proven in Caribbean countries and around the business world.

The drive to significantly improve the viability of Guyana’s Maritime sector in 2012 will also involve closer collaboration with the Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI) in the area of training and skill development. The CMI had in the past facilitated a Diploma level programme at the Critchlow Labour College and with the University of Guyana. SAG is already in discussion with the CMI seeking technical assistance to resuscitate University level programmes in Maritime Transportation and Transport Logistics.
In the meantime, private terminal owners, shipping, brokerage and other operators have begun to identify their skill needs at all levels of their operations. The resulting Needs Analysis is expected to form the basis for SAG’s renewed advocacy with the Education Ministry to supplement the curricula at the local University with maritime-related training programmes.
In October 2011 SAG formed a strategic alliance with the U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command which serves as the liaison between the United States Navy and Maritime Commerce and Security in the Caribbean and Latin America. Officers in U.S. Maritime Liaison Unit (MARLU) discussed with SAG an initiative to establish a Maritime Security Council in the region which would eventually provide a blueprint for the entire Caribbean and Latin American Region. The Caribbean Shipping Association (CSA) is the architect of this initiative.
SAG’s Chairman, Andrew Astwood, pointed out in the meeting with the U.S. Naval officers that maritime security in Guyana was another key item on the Association’s current agenda. He said that SAG was already drawing up plans to resuscitate the Guyana Maritime Security Committee which will actively involve the Guyana Police and Defense Forces. The Committee will be expected to function under the umbrella of the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD).
At mid-year 2011, the private sectors in Guyana and Brazil inked an Economic Integration Agreement and by the end of the year the initial Market Survey was nearing completion. With Guyana positioned on the Atlantic seaboard close to the islands of the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean, Brazilian business owners have already identified the tremendous benefits to be derived from utilizing our across-country corridors and transportation systems to access the Demerara port. Officials from the Brazilian business support organization, SEBRAE, had indicated early in the negotiations that transporting Brazilian produce especially from the southern states of Roraima and Amazonia through Guyana to the Demerara Port would be less time consuming and costly than utilizing the Brazilian Atlantic ports in the north.
The Government of Guyana is already on board with this Economic Integration Programme and has allocated an 80 acre parcel of land in the border town of Lethem for construction of a massive transshipment facility. SAG intends to spearhead the process that will involve movement of cargo through Guyana’s road and river corridors from Lethem to the Georgetown Port.
The membership of SAG had examined these initiatives indepth at a high level caucus held last October 2011 which was intended to prioritize the maritime enhancement strategy for quick implementation in 2012.
Ever conscious of its role as the maritime liaison between the commercial sector and governmental oversight bodies, SAG’s timetable this year will include frequent engagements with these entities to keep the main issues in the forefront of the agenda. The most urgent agenda item is the critical development of the Demerara Harbour. The urgency of this programme could not be overstated since it has a direct bearing on the viability of local commerce and Guyana’s capacity to sustain existing market agreements with countries in the Caribbean, North America and Europe.
Global economics and its technologies are advancing rapidly and with Guyana’s economic evolution at stake, it becomes imperative that new maritime structures, regulations and measures are implemented forthwith to ensure that this country could develop in tandem with our Caribbean and South American neighbours.  The opportunities abound and the Shipping Association has readied itself to confront the old challenges with new alliances, and engage with the relevant authorities to ensure that our commercial traders in the public and private sectors could work with every resource available at home and abroad.