Edghill urges local businesses to prepare for wave of opportunities

…as Cevons Waste Management gets ISO certification

Public Works Minister Juan Edghill has called on more local businesses to ensure that they are up to standard so that they can capitalise on opportunities coming out of not only the oil and gas sector but other areas as the country embarks on its economic transformation.

Edghill made this remark on Thursday at a presentation ceremony where Cevons Waste Management Inc was accredited with the International Standards Organisation (ISO) 9001:2015 certification standard.

Delivering the feature address, the Public Works Minister posited that more local companies should follow in this direction to prepare themselves for the host of opportunities that would come.
“A simple niche service like solid waste management and disposal will grow significantly, because the population and the city out there will require that service. So, we have to understand that from now, you have to start positioning yourself for the future,” Edghill stressed.
He opined that it was such visionary leadership and thinking that led Cevons Waste Management to position itself for those opportunities. The Public Works Minister lauded the company for already taking the step to expand its operations beyond waste management since Cevons has been subcontracted to do the markings on some of the major road projects.
Minister Edghill posited that Guyana’s future was unbelievably bright and this was evident in the magnitude of interest that was being shown by overseas players.
To this end, he noted that the ISO standard would be required with the rapid development that was taking place in the country. He further encouraged the company not to limit itself to Guyana but to become a brand beyond Guyana’s borders by strengthening its capacity.
“Local Content was designed [for companies like Cevons Waste Management] to ensure that every Guyanese benefit in this new experience that we are having… Look for opportunities. Your training and engineering capacity must not limit you. Keep looking for opportunities,” Minister Edghill stated.
Established in May 1997, Cevons Waste Management has since been pioneering services in the waste management sector, offering a range of services to both the private and public sectors. These include recycling services; solid waste management (residential, industrial, commercial, municipal); skip bin/roll-on roll-off containers; portable toilets’ rental; document destruction; road marking; road sweeping and more.
With the ISO 9001:2015 certification, Cevons Chief Operations Officer (COO) Morris Archer disclosed that the company will soon be joining with international partners to expand its operations to serve the oil and gas sector.
“We will be making a major investment in the oil and gas sector for waste management service. I want to thank the Government of Guyana for making these investments possible for local companies like ours… They’ve allowed companies like Cevons Waste Management to be a part of the development of the country,” Archer asserted.
While the COO did not go into detail about the new project, the company’s Senior Advisor with responsibility for quality, Don Smith mentioned it would include the development of a waste recovery facility along with other environmentally-friendly initiatives.
The ISO 9001:2015 certification was granted by Global Compliance Service, which operates in 36 countries and is the only Accredited ISO Certification Body with a resident office in Guyana.
Global Compliance Service Guyana Inc is a wholly Guyanese-owned and operated business with a team consisting of Guyanese professionals who are qualified ISO Management Systems Trainers and Auditors. Its ISO certifications are issued from GCS office in the USA through a seamless accredited process.
According to the company, its vision is to provide more affordable and competitive ISO certification, inspection, and training services to companies within Guyana. It noted that a presence in Guyana eliminates the exorbitant cost of airfare and accommodations which make ISO certification more affordable for local businesses.
Companies certified by the ISO 9001 standard have established a quality management system, which provides a framework for the delivery of consistent quality of products and services as defined within its scope of certification. This certification is recognised internationally and enables companies to operate more effectively at several different levels, including the ability to focus on customer requirements and constantly find ways to improve and become resilient and sustainable.