–significant strides made in ‘fronting’ and late payments, Local Content head says

AIMING to connect local suppliers with companies in Guyana’s oil-and-gas sector, the Mobile Local Content App is expected to come to fruition by the end of this year.

This is according to Director of the Local Content Secretariat Dr. Martin Pertab, who made this disclosure on Wednesday during the Ministry of Natural Resources mid-year press conference.

Dr. Pertab said: “We have been working on the mobile app. I know this has received quite a lot of attention, and we are hoping to have it finalised by the end of this year.”

He revealed that the current works are focused on completing the interface, so as to ensure that the application is user-friendly.

Earlier this year, the local content director said that this app would better connect local companies with the oil-and-gas sector, and enhance job access.

At the time, he’d said that many times locals would have difficulty accessing information on opportunities that are available in the oil-and-gas sector, and as a result, persons miss out on critical employment avenues.

As such, this is one of the issues that the app will address.

It is an important element of the secretariat’s drive to prioritise Guyanese nationals and companies to enable local capacity development.

Meanwhile, during Wednesday’s press conference, Dr. Pertab revealed that over the past six months, significant strides have been made in addressing some of the underlying challenges, like the issue of ‘fronting’ and late payments.

He said that since the secretariat’s establishment in 2022, the average payment period was around three to six months, even as it was reduced to 35 to 45 days.

However, he said, “We’re in discussion with some of the major Tier One companies, including the contractors, to have that payment period revised downward to 21 days.”