CHIEF Executive Officer (CEO) of Swansea Industrial Associates, Mr. Clement Duncan, as an executive member of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA), has urged that the twin policies of the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and the National Competitiveness Strategy (NCS) be recognised as Guyana’s most formidable chance for survival in the real world.

During the World Accreditation Day Symposium, hosted by the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) on Monday at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown, Duncan made this suggestion as he reiterated sentiments expressed by the President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr. Warren Smith, in highlighting the manufacturing sector as being one of the areas of non-competitiveness in the Caribbean, accrediting this phenomenon to high energy costs recorded at three times that of the energy cost in North America.

World Accreditation Day was observed under the theme “Accreditation: Delivering confidence in the provision of energy.” Members of the head table included Mr. Clement Duncan; Dr. Mahender Sharma, Executive Director of the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA); Mr. Horace Williams, CEO of the Hinterland Electrification Unit of the Office of the Prime Minister; Ms. Candelle Walcott-Bostwick, Head of the Conformity Assessment Department of the GNBS; and Mr. Al Donavan Fraser, Technical Officer of the GNBS.

In addressing the issue of energy availability, Duncan recalled that, in 2012, the GMSA membership had urged the umbrella organisation to “be more proactive in helping them address this issue of high energy costs.” He added that the Association had been in talks with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), devising a project that would have comprehensively addressed the issues of energy conservation, energy efficiency, and the possibility of alternative energy through self-generation in complementing the energy sources already available through the national grid.

Duncan asserted that the GSMA is working in conjunction with the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) and the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL), since the findings of the project directly relate to energy consumption that can be used as guidelines for targeting some of the broad tenets that were identified in the project.

As a collective effort between the GMSA, IDB, GEA and GPL, the project would ultimately impact the energy policy of Guyana in addressing the following key issues: provision of a stable and reliable economic supply of energy; reduction of dependency on imported fuel; promotion and increased utilisation of domestic resources; and ensuring that energy consumption is maintained in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner.

Duncan said the Private Sector, particularly the industrial and manufacturing sector, has noted the fundamental importance of the twin policies in guiding the direction of the business sector and the economy of Guyana. The National Competitiveness Strategy addresses a holistic approach to development and the Low Carbon Development Strategy, addresses the environmental aspects centred on low carbon emissions of developmental projects, he said.

Duncan asserted that the association recognises the policy and its army-style “pincer movement” as being geared towards progress in energy and productivity improvements through human endeavour.

“Part of my responsibility in the GMSA is trade and investment, and I hear the complaints and concerns of our membership about our inability to be competitive, and [for] various reasons, of which energy — or the lack of affordable energy — is one of the reasons [accounting for] 20% of operating costs,” Duncan related.

“The GSMA has, since 2012, been meeting with its membership on the issue of energy conservation. We identified five companies in our membership — some are present here today — that reflected the spectrum of the manufacturing sector,” Duncan disclosed.

The companies identified were drawn from a lot of high-energy users as well as modest energy users. Duncan noted that the parameter of 20% of operating cost of the business was the key issue to be remedied by the assessment, which only persists because of the lack of available energy sources in the Caribbean.
Written By Derwayne Wills