A tender that was out for the construction of a packaging plant at the Albion Sugar Estate, which will further the Government’s drive to make the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) profitable and also provide more employment, has received four bids.
According to the tender details, there is an engineer’s estimate of $1.5 billion for the project which attracted bids from four companies. Incidentally, all of the bids exceeded the engineer’s estimate, with the closest one, Yunas Civil and Building Construction Services, coming in at $1.8 billion.
The next lowest bid was from LGS Barnes Gen Building, Construction and Civil Engineering. Their bid came in at $2.2 billion. The third lowest bid was from APMCL Guyana, which bid $2.9 billion. Kee-Chanona Limited, a Trinidadian company, had the highest bid of $3 billion.
The Albion Sugar Estate
GuySuCo had advertised earlier this year for contractors to construct a building at the Albion Estate in Berbice, which would house the packaging plant. It had been intended for the packaging plant at Enmore to be relocated.
In February, it was announced that Government has leased the packaging plant, located at the Enmore Estate, to local company Guysons Engineering which has partnered with US-based K+B Industries to form the GKB joint venture that will be establishing the Enmore Manufacturing Facility to cater to the oil and gas sector.
As part of the agreement, the company would retain all the workers of the packaging plant and conduct training so that they can be absorbed into the new operations – something which the workers lauded.
Guysons K+B Industries has committed to invest in the people of the East Coast corridor, plugging an “unmatched” US$37.5 million (G$7.5 billion) to establish the Enmore Manufacturing Plant, a state-of-the-art oilfield services facility. The company had clarified that its lease is for the Enmore Packaging Plant and not the Sugar Estate – a site that was recommended by Government.
The packaging facility is approximately 100,000 sq feet and its transformation would take an estimated 18 to 24 months. GKB said the packaging plant could be repurposed and become operational, almost immediately, preserving jobs currently held at the Plant, with a guarantee of 150 employees by the end of the first year and 500 in five years.
According to the company, a minimum of 50 acres of land is required to effectively deliver OCTG (oil country tubular goods) and Premium Accessory Services to the local oil and gas sector. These services are currently being outsourced to companies in Trinidad and Tobago, United States, and other countries.
“This initiative would increase commercial activity on the East Coast corridor and tap into considerable foreign exchange-earning potential, bringing greater oil and gas revenues to Guyana. Significantly, this would be the first time ever that these services are provided in-country… GKB endeavours to train residents of the East Coast corridor.”
“We have committed to rehiring 100 per cent of the workers currently employed at the Enmore Packaging Plant. We will see to it that our expansion uplifts economically-depressed communities of the East Coast corridor with sustainable jobs which will serve as a revitalising lifeline for its youth and laid-off sugar workers… The capacity building and job creation potential of this project and its spillover effects cannot be understated,” the company had said.
It further noted that it has agreed to strict land development timelines and milestones over the first three years that will be monitored as the phased development occurs.
