A glimpse at the life of a newly appointed government minister

HAVING struggled through the early parts of his life to pursue an education and lend support to his family, Deodat Indar has stopped at nothing in continuing to go after brilliant feats in his life.

Perhaps he tells himself that he has to make up for all those years that he and his family punished when Guyana experienced harsh living conditions around the 1980s; or maybe he is motivated to continue pressing forward, thanks to the many academic successes that he has had over the years.
At just 28 years old, Indar could’ve been described as one of the most qualified persons in Guyana, simultaneously holding several positions in the country’s private sector. Today, 11 years later, and being the newly appointed Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, he has no intention of relinquishing his desire to do more – this time, however, for the benefit of his country.

The responsibilities of his new office are no doubt many, but Indar wants to show the world that he is part of a “results-oriented” government. “And the proof of the pudding is always in the eating, so you have to see the results. We don’t want to talk about things; we want to do things to benefit the citizenry,” he expressed.

During an interview with the Pepperpot Magazine lately, Indar reflected on his many years of hard work, and even some of his more recent work as a leading figure in the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI).
He had exerted much time and energy fighting against the controversial parking meter project in the city and was perhaps the loudest voice for local content legislation in the oil-and-gas sector.

He and his teams also did lots of work getting trade missions and international Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) signed between countries, such as Cuba and India, so that businesses in these nations can have direct contact with each other.

On the second year of his term as president of the GCCI, Indar became the vice-chairman of the PSC, where he went on to singlehandedly plan a one-of-a-kind business summit in 2017, and produce much work in the energy and economic aspects of the PSC.

Apart from these portfolios, Indar was also growing his personal businesses which he developed. “They’ve become successful and they grew in very short spaces of time. So we have about four businesses that I pushed for international partnerships.”

Because of his political standing now, however, he has since resigned from all of his private sector positions, including his post as finance controller at the reputable Sterling Products Limited at Providence.

Indar is also doing a lot in his private life, including building his home on the West Coast of Demerara, which he said he started to do over a year ago.

Personal development

During all of his hard times growing up, Deodat, now a father of two, said he realised that the only way out of that “severe poverty” was through education. “At the age of 12, I was given a chance by a primary school teacher who saw something in me. Up to now, I don’t know what this person saw in me. I was brought from the back bench to the front bench and so I started to listen. I came from the extremely dunce guy to the extremely brilliant guy,” he had related in a previous interview.

He started to do well in school and after sitting the then Common Entrance Examinations, he went to St. Stanislaus College where he spent the next five years. One year after leaving school, Indar received employment at Guyana Beverages as an accounts clerk.
At the age of 20 he became the operations manager at the same firm and started to study for the Certified Accounting Technician (CAT) examination. Though working and studying were difficult, he concluded the CAT certification in only nine months and was the best student in Guyana for the highest aggregate marks.

This served as motivation to him and he immediately went into the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) programme. He finished this in two years and by age 24, was already a qualified chartered accountant. By this time, he was working at the Guyana Forestry Commission, but decided to leave the job and take up a position at Sterling Products Limited. There, he was the youngest Finance Controller for a public company.

At Sterling, he was able to elevate himself even further. He finalised his first degree at the University of Oxford Brookes in England and received his Bachelor’s Degree with honours. He did the Certified General Accounting Exams of Canada and received his Master of Business Administration Degree at the University of East London. He then proceeded to do the US (United States) Certified Internal Audit Exam.

In addition, he was also President/Chairman of the Board of Governors, at the Institute of Internal Auditors – Guyana Chapter; Facilitator at the Australian Institute of Business – Nations University; Treasurer of the Guyana Scout Association; an investment advisor; and an ACCA lecturer.
More recently, he received his Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and Certificate in Risk Management Assurance (CRMA) credentials.

Now in his newly appointed position in government, Indar firmly believes that he has been chosen not just because he is qualified to do the job, but due to his track record of being a hard worker and getting things done.