–see switch to oil and gas a rewarding career change

FORMER sugar workers have said that they adapted well to the oil and gas training at the TotalTec Academy, noting that it has been a good transition for them.
The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) had laid off almost 4000 sugar workers in an effort to make the ailing sugar industry viable.

Seven former sugar workers, some of whom were laid off, had been recruited by the academy to undergo a nine-week training programme, which encompasses every aspect of basic operational and safety training required in the industry to ensure that they are given the opportunity to develop and perform to the world-class standards that are expected in the international oil and gas industry.

“Me and my friend used to work at the Enmore Estate; the transition was good for us because the training at the GuySuCo Training Centre is not too different,” said Duvendra Lala, one of the recruits.

“But only thing is that the level is higher in terms of standards.”
Lala and his colleagues said GuySuCo basically gave them the necessary tools to be there and be able to further develop themselves.

“The training centre was a stepping stone,” said Dexter Vangroigen, a former employee of the Albion Estate.

They hope that the training they receive will propel them to take up a managerial or supervisory position in the oil and gas industry.

But despite being on the path to a new career, they’re still in allegiance with the other sugar workers who were laid off and are even encouraging them to apply to the academy and by extension be a part of the new industry.

TotalTec Director, Lars Mangal said the former sugar workers are indeed embracing the new industry, and that their new careers will be the defining future of the Guyanese participation in the industry.

According to a Guyana Chronicle report, Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman had called on investors to help “retool” former sugar workers to make them fit for the oil and gas industry.

Minister Trotman had urged investors to partner with local academic institutions like the University of Guyana (UG) in order to help Guyana “delink” and go through the “pains” of rightsising the sugar industry.

“We have able-bodied men and women who can make a contribution to the oil and gas industry which will replace sugar,” said the minister.