-CEO eyes February month-end completion; says 50 persons to be employed

WITH the final works to be completed in February, GAICO Construction Inc., which is now offering oil and gas support services, will soon begin operations at its port facility and laydown yard at Nismes in Region Three.

In an exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Sunday, GAICO’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Komal Singh, explained that, once completed, the port facility will generate a host of economic opportunities for the region.

With the dry season fast approaching, Singh said works are progressing rapidly and if the weather permits, all construction works could be completed by the end of this month.

“We are just doing some surfacing at this point in time. The wharf itself is completed and we have already started the discharging of construction material. On the wharf side we just have to place all the surface material and we are actually waiting on the weather to subside a little. By the end of February, we expect to have the surface area completed, fully allowing the facility to pretty much open to vessels and other activities,” he said.

Meanwhile, as it relates to the laydown area, Singh said: “that area is pretty much in the same stage. We just need to put on the finish layer of material right now and we will also put in some fencing, some lights and security cameras by the end of February.”

The US$25 million investment will include a wharf, dry dock, and laydown yard where construction material will be stored. It is intended to supplement the region’s development, including the US$900 million gas-to-energy project at Wales, and will create significant opportunities for businesses and Guyanese.

“We have advertisements out; we are looking for at least 50 persons at this point in time. The facility will obviously be running on a 24-hour basis so we will be looking to have two shifts,” he said.

Singh has taken note of the magnitude of the project and the impact such a facility will have on the region.

“This is one of the largest projects that is currently being undertaken in region Three,” he added.

Currently, the region is undergoing an infrastructural and modernisation transformation with the ongoing construction of a new four-lane highway from Schoonord to Crane.

Meanwhile, at the centre of the modernisation plans for the region are the construction of a new ‘fly-over’ Demerara Harbour Bridge, which will stretch from Nandy Park on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD) to La Grange, and the construction of the gas-to-energy project.

A 12-inch pipeline, which will stretch some 200km from offshore, will be used to transport natural gas from the Liza Phase One and Liza Phase Two Floating, Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) vessels offshore, to the power plant and Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) facility which is being constructed at Wales.

Singh noted that the port will not only be a new addition to the region but will play an important role in the massive development slated for the region by complimenting the numerous ongoing projects.

AGRICULTURE

Singh noted that his company has plans to become involved in the agriculture sector.

“At a later stage we hope to start supporting, the agriculture sector to allow agriculture produce to be loaded from our facility,” he added.

According to Singh, many rice farmers in the region pay a hefty fee to transport their produce from their farms to Georgetown for export.

“Our intention is to review that and look at the economy to see if it makes economic sense to have those produce transported and to help farmers reduce the amount of transportation costs they have, currently, moving their produce to Georgetown and the East Bank.”

GAICO Construction Inc., is perfectly positioned to offer oil spill response, waste management services and equipment, in the event of an oil spill. In addition to civil works, the company also provides services to the marine sector.

In August 2021, the Guyanese-owned company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with two United States-based companies, Myer Marine Services and Hargrove EPC, at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Texas.

The objective of the MoU was to foster a deeper relationship and to work in close collaboration for the development of projects in Guyana.

This strategic partnership will enable the transfer of skills and technology for the development of the Guyanese workforce in the growing oil and gas sector.

Additionally, in 2022, GAICO Construction Inc. and Corena Group, which operates as GAICO Corena Environmental Services, and the Guyana Shore Base Incorporated (GYSBI) pooled their resources to launch a US$10 million firm, Sustainable Environmental Solutions Guyana Inc. (SES), to manage “oil waste.”

SES is a materialisation of a joint venture partnership signed in February 2019, by the two companies to provide oil spill response and waste management services to the country’s oil and gas industry.