Guyanese Shyam Nokta receives prestigious Anthony N Sabga Award

Guyanese businessman and environmentalist Shyam Nokta has been bestowed with the prestigious Anthony N Sabga Award, which is meant to recognise and reward excellence in the Caribbean region, and create an awareness of the significant work done in the region that benefits Caribbean people and all people worldwide.

Launched in 2005, prizes are awarded in the spheres of Arts & Letters, Entrepreneurship, Science & Technology, and Public & Civic Contributions. Nokta received the award for Entrepreneurship.
“Shyam Nokta is an environmental protection consultant who founded a thriving business called Environmental Management Consultants. He is a leading player in the environment and natural resources sectors, his clients include companies in oil and gas, companies in mineral mining, at least one company in the rum-distilling business, and also includes various international charitable organisations. So, he is very much enterprising on how he approaches the business of environmental protection, but as he says himself, EMC, that is his company, is business, and like every business, “we look at the bottom line,” Professor Compton Bourne said as he announced the award.

Nokta has served as the President of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) and Chairman of the Local Content Advisory Panel. He also served as an Adviser to the President, and as Head of the Office of Climate Change, where he coordinated Guyana’s response to climate change, the development and implementation of the LCDS, and REDD+ Partnership with the Kingdom of Norway.
He was also involved in key conservation initiatives such as the establishment of Guyana’s National Protected Areas System, and has chaired several national boards and committees in the areas of tourism, conservation, climate change, and green growth.
Meanwhile other recipients of the award are Professor Christine Carrington, Trinidad and Tobago, Science & Technology; Dr Kim Jebodhsingh, Barbados, Public & Civic Contributions; Marlon James, Jamaica, Arts & Letters; and Anuskha Sonai, Suriname, Public & Civic Contributions.
Carrington is Professor of Molecular Genetics and Virology at the University of the West Indies (UWI) St Augustine Campus. She is perhaps the foremost regional authority on virus evolution and molecular epidemiology, and is respected in the scientific community regionally and globally, with an impressive record of publication and international collaboration.
Sonai is an ICT entrepreneur. She is at the centre of many Surinamese and regional initiatives for young people and women in Suriname to access training, hands-on experience, and opportunities in order to work and thrive in the burgeoning technology sector.
Dr Jebodhsingh is a Barbadian ophthalmologist and oculoplastic surgeon, who uses her skills to improve healthcare outcomes and bring about meaningful change in healthcare outcomes locally and regionally.
James is an internationally acclaimed Jamaican novelist. He is best known for his 2015 Man Booker Prize winning novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings (2014).
The laureates for the Anthony N Sabga Award are selected by Country Nominating Committees (CNC) and a regional Eminent Persons Panel (EPP). Advertisements are placed in the media throughout the English-speaking Caribbean stating criteria and inviting nominations. Applications are passed to the nominating committees in five countries: Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
Each CNC then makes its selections, and the candidates are subjected to a rigorous research and vetting procedure. Once candidates are found to meet the criteria, the CNCs make selections and present them to the EPP, which makes the final adjudication.