–says facility will support country’s offshore operations

JOP Property Holdings Inc., a Guyanese firm, is seeking to construct a US$25 million wharf at Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara near the Baker Hughes’ Supercenter to further advance the delivery services and supplies to the local oil and gas industry.
The firm which is currently seeking approval from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), explained, in its project summary, that the facility will allow for the transition of products and supplies back and forth to offshore operations in Guyana.

“The wharf will sit directly in the Demerara River, approximately 63 Georgetown Datum (GD) from the high-water mark along the western boundary of the property. The wharf will be 20 meters wide, with a 10 m wide ramp, by 240 meters long, covering a total area of 7,200 m2,” the company said.
Meanwhile, the proposed structure will comprise a reinforced concrete deck supported on prestressed precast concrete piles. These piles will consist of cross-section dimensions 350mm x 350mm.

The wharf deck will be designed to support Uniformly Distributed Loads (UDL) of 50kPa over the entire deck surface.
During its construction phase, some 50 persons are expected to gain direct employment, and a larger number of persons are expected to be employed once the project commences its operation phase.

According to the project summary, the facility will add to the existing industrial and commercial activities ongoing at Land of Canaan.
“At present, the Land of Canaan is one of the communities where there is significant industrial and commercial development. In particular, there has been an increase in industrial and commercial activities within Land of Canaan due to the emerging oil and gas sector, and expanding building and infrastructure development sector,” the company said.
At a recent round table discussion with key players in Guyana and Ghana’s petroleum industry, Senior Petroleum Coordinator at the Ministry of Natural Resources, Bobby Gossai Jr., said that Guyana has seen an increase in local establishments within the oil and gas sector and he believes this is heavily influenced by the country’s local content legislation.
He further said that Guyana is looking to further build its local content capacity to not just benefit from the country’s oil and gas sector but also other industries.
Gossai related that the local content act has earned the country massive revenue, with millions being accumulated from offshore investments, prime contractors, and sub-contractors working in the industry.

Meanwhile, Guyana is expected to update its local content legislation in the coming months. The update to the local content law will likely include new provisions that reflect the lessons learned since its enactment, and the progress made in many areas.
With this new turning point for Guyana and the industry, it is anticipated that the country will see even more local companies providing logistics and manpower services for increasingly high-skilled industry segments.

On December 31, 2021, the Government of Guyana passed the Local Content Act 2021.
Subsequently, it published several related guidelines that were designed to maximise the participation of Guyanese companies wherever they have the skills and capacity to get involved, beginning with services such as office space rental, janitorial services, laundry and catering services, pest control services, insurance services, supply of food and accounting services and extending through long-term involvement in highly skilled subsectors like subsea installation, geophysical analysis and engineering.