Govt targets job creation in outlying regions to bridge oil & gas opportunity gap

…offers new incentives to investors

Cognisant of the fact that persons living outside of Regions Three and Four may be disadvantaged when it comes to accessing oil and gas job opportunities, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government is focusing on incentivising investors to generate jobs for youths in outlying regions, thus reducing the need for them to leave their homes for work.
During his recent press conference, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo responded to questions about youths living in the hinterland and other regions away from the coast, being disadvantaged when it comes to accessing opportunities related to oil and gas.
Jagdeo acknowledged that with many of the job opportunities in and around oil and gas being concentrated in Regions Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and Four (Demerara-Mahaica), there is a need for jobs to be generated in these other regions too.

“So right now, it’s not just from the hinterland. But if you live in region 10, and most of the opportunities around the oil and gas sector are here in regions three and four. If you live in region 10 or six or one, seven, eight or nine, you’re likely to be disadvantaged because you’d have to travel to work.”
“You’d have to move to work. So that is why we started with the part time work in those areas. And we’re trying to shift a lot of the job opportunities, through a number of initiatives,” Jagdeo explained.
These initiatives include call centres, co-investing and increasing fiscal incentives for investors to create job opportunities outside of Region Four. For instance, the Government has been vocal in its desire to co-invest with private sector individuals in areas such as agro-processing, particularly in the hinterland. This would be similar to the policy the Government has pursued with call centres.
“So, it’s not just hinterland people, but people who live outside of four and three. Three and four tend to be easier to move across. But from the time you go to the further regions, they have to travel long distances. And so, they wouldn’t be able…they’ll be disadvantaged. But eventually, that’s what’s going to happen.”
“As we start moving out a lot of the processing facilities and stuff, people will be able to get their job opportunities closer to their homes. I don’t want to list them here today, but like the call centres, the co-investing, the changing of the fiscal regimes so you can get more incentives for investing in a region outside of say… Region Four, to generate jobs in those areas.”

In Region Three, the transformative Gas-to-Energy (GtE) Project is being built which includes the construction of an integrated Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) Plant and a 300-megawatt (MW) combined cycle power plant at Wales. The project will be utilising natural gas from the country’s offshore operations in the Stabroek Block.
Meanwhile, Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), where oil production and exploration is ongoing by international companies, is located off the coast of Guyana. Total employment of Guyanese in the oil and gas sector is estimated 6,500.
As many as 454 persons were hired within the first half of the year in the oil and gas sector, already exceeding 50 per cent of the target set by the Local Content Secretariat (LCS) for oil and gas new hires for 2024. But most of the companies that are directly and indirectly supporting offshore operations are based in Georgetown and its environs.
The Government had set itself the task of creating 50,000 jobs within its first term in office and indeed, the Government has said that this goal has been achieved since the party assumed the reins of Government in 2020. Then there is the part time job initiative, which has so far given employment to thousands around the country.
It was announced last year that over 11,000 persons were employed through the programme in Regions Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam); Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); Five (Mahaica-Berbice); Six (East Berbice-Corentyne); Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) and 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), injecting $2.3 billion into these households since the programme started in the second half of 2022. (G3)