WHILE the Guyana Technical Training College Inc. (GTTCI) in Port Mourant, Region Six will be formally opened today, for the past few months, it has been elevating the local technical training capacity and supporting Guyana’s growing oil and gas industry by developing a highly skilled, Guyanese workforce.

Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat during the launch of the Local Content Online Registration Portal on Friday, said that the GTTCI aims to certify locals who have the skills and experience needed in the oil and gas sector.

He remarked that in addition to creating job opportunities for young Guyanese, the Government of Guyana has been establishing entities to ensure that young people are trained and certified.

According to the minister, the government recognised that there were man skilled locals who were not certified. Because of this, they could not be employed.

Minister Vickram said that this is what the GTTCI intends to address.

“We have so many people with skill sets, but they don’t have the certificate and you know that in the oil and gas industry, they will not employ you without a requisite certification, and you can’t blame them because it is a very sensitive industry, especially when it comes to health and safety,” the minister added.

Underscoring the government’s involvement in ensuring that Guyanese are trained and are given opportunities, the minister stated that Guyanese need better paying jobs, and are capable of working in technical fields.

According to the minister, already an estimated 35 Guyanese have graduated from the GTTCI, and these persons have already gained employment offshore.

“Many of them are on the Unity FPSO. There’s a batch there, about 20 right now, and they’re going to graduate in about six months as well in collaboration with SBM. So, once they’ve trained, then they go offshore and they start to work,” Minister Bharrat said adding:

“There’s employment that’s provided for them. As a matter of fact, most of those trainees are already employed, mostly by SBM. So, they’re being paid at the same time while they’re training, and then deployed after that,” he said.

Highlighting Guyana’s development, the minister said that today, Guyanese are not leaving to find betterment elsewhere. Instead, they are either staying in Guyana or returning because of the transformation taking place.

This rapid transformation, he said, happened because of good leadership, good management, and good governance.