GYSBI celebrates 250 days LTI-free, delivers 1M cm3 sand to Gas-to-Energy Project

The Guyana Shore Base Inc (GYSBI) on Friday announced that it has achieved a milestone of being 250 days free of lost-time injuries (LTIs) and has also been able to deliver one million cubic metres of sand to the Gas-to-Energy Project at Wales, West Bank Demerara (WBD).
LTI refers to an injury sustained by an employee on the job which results in the loss of productive work time. Lost-time injuries encompass both temporary injuries, which keep the employee away from work for a day, and permanent disabilities and conditions that prevent the employee from ever returning to the job, or performing their regular work tasks.
GYSBI has been contracted by LINDSAYCA CH4 to execute earth, soil remediation, and surcharge work at the site where the Government of Guyana is constructing an integrated Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) extraction plant and establishing a 300MW power generation facility. LINDSAYCA CH4 has been contracted to do the construction work by the Government of Guyana, and physical works commenced on August 31, 2023 with the last stage of the contract expected to be completed by the end of this month.

Before this engagement with LINDSAYCA CH4, GYSBI had been contracted by ExxonMobil Guyana to execute the early works and heavy-haul road at the site. This included the construction of five bridges, an access road, a heavy-haul road, and the initial site preparation for the Integrated Plant site.
In brief remarks at a simple ceremony held to mark the achievement, Executive Director of GYSBI, Robin Muneshwer, said the work the company has been doing at the site is nothing short of remarkable.
It started when we won the Early Works project with Exxon. It was a small project at the time, and it was in the middle of the jungle. We won the Heavy-Haul Road project, and then migrated to the LINDSAYCA CH4 project, which we are at now, he detailed.
I am blown away by what we have been able to achieve in the middle of nowhere. To achieve this record in safety in this harsh territory is quite a feat. Importantly, this (achievement of being) 250 days LTIs-free is only for the LINDSAYCA project; this does not include those works that we did for ExxonMobil earlier on, he explained.
On the logistics side, Muneshwer indicated that due to the distance and location of the project, moving materials such as sand proved to be a challenge. However, the company was able to work around these challenges and has now transported and placed over one million cubic feet of sand at the site.
Having detailed the work that has been done so far, Muneshwer noted that it is even more important that the workers and all Guyanese alike see the bigger picture and realize the value of the project, which aims to provide reliable and cheaper electricity to citizens.
The significance of this project cannot be overstated in national terms, because power has been one of the issues that (have) been plaguing Guyana for many decades. It has plagued businesses — we do not have cheap sources of power for manufacturing etc — so this project is the absolute game- changer for Guyana. When we start generating power, transmitting and distributing it, that is when this country is really going to move ahead in a significant way, he explained.
Everyone should feel proud to be involved in such a project. This is what you will be passing on to your kids and grandkids, and you can tell them that you played a part in this project, he added.
Construction Manager of the G-t-E Project, Almir Dapo, detailed a similar prediction as he reminisced on the challenges that were encountered in accessing the site and commencing the preparatory works.
I am happy that we are here to celebrate something huge in numbers. We started here in 2022 with Exxon, and I remember it was a very small team building the roads, etc. For us back then, we were coming to an empty area filled with forest, there were no roads or bridges. Today we have built bridges and roads, and now self-discharging barges are coming here every day to deliver sand. [This achievement] took a lot of trucks, movements, day shifts and night shifts, he said.
And Project Manager at the site, Evgenii Angarskii, said that more than 200 pieces of equipment operate at the site, and the equipment is complemented by 250 staff members who are directly employed with GYSBI. He added that with the inclusion of third-party contractors and service providers, the site sees more than 400 persons every day.