Georgetown: “Without trained and skilled persons, the wheels of industry would remain still,” President David Granger said on Friday during his address at the most recent Board of Industrial Training (BIT) graduates at the National Cultural.
He reiterated his pledge to invest in human capital to have a skilled workforce that will help in Guyana’s transformation.
“We need persons like you to man factories and plants which will form part of our low carbon industrial complexes; to explore and exploit more efficiently our natural resources… We need skilled personnel to build our aerodrome in the hinterland, bridges, roads and stellings, to improve access to our country, particularly the area west of the Essequibo,” he stated.
The President said industrial estates will be built in the various towns of the administrative regions as cheap energy is the fuel of industrialisation.
He said the Green State Development Strategy (GSDS) will provide a clean and cost-effective source of energy to drive the creation of new industries, which will enhance economic transformation.
The President explained that solar, wind and hydro power will reduce Guyana’s dependency on fossil fuel and eventually reduce such a bill.
However, the President said the oil sector will aid in Guyana’s development.
“The oil is not a bonanza which we must waste, it is an opportunity for the nation to become stronger and to build a resilient economy, your government is committed to managing the petroleum revenues for the benefit of all generations and we will manage those revenues prudently,” the President said.
One of two groups that graduated from the National Training Project for Youth Empowerment (Carl Croker photo)
He said the government intends to use the revenues to expand and diversify the economy, strengthen non-oil sectors, build human capacity and generate employment.
“In other words, Guyana’s economy must walk on two legs, the first leg is to develop the extractive industries such as petroleum, gold, diamond, bauxite; the second leg will be for the protection of the environment and this involves the transition in becoming the ‘green’ state,” he said.
The President explained that petroleum revenues will move Guyana closer to becoming a low-carbon economy and to becoming a ‘green’ state.
“We have already, in anticipation of the petroleum sector, drafted the Green State Development Strategy (GSDS) 2040, and this is a roadmap to the good life and a forward looking plan with a 20-year focus. The success of the plan will require training a core of young Guyanese who will drive the development of the nation, development won’t happen by itself,” Granger said.
He said the ‘green’ development agenda requires the development of technical skills.
Meanwhile, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Social Protection, Shelton Daniels, said training is an art and there is an art to training.
He said more than 500 apprentices, in accordance with eight service providers, were exposed to the rigors of training for the effective world of work.
Daniels said the collaboration with the Organisation of Persons with Disabilities; the Ministry of the Presidency, Department of Youth Empowerment; and the Ministry of Natural Resources, among others, are geared towards equipping young people with skills as part of the process for their empowerment.
Daniels said the national programme for youth empowerment is the flagship programme of BIT, as it is competency-based, technical and vocational training for both public and private sectors.
STRONG LEADERSHIP
“I am of the view that prudent leadership at the national level, coupled with a proactive board, training will be intensified across the length and breadth of Guyana and all the trainees will benefit from the first-class education system, whereby every child will be educated from nursery to university at the State’s expense as posited by his Excellency, President Granger,” he said.
He said that graduations are about endings and beginnings, a celebration of achievement and a commencement of transition towards a different chapter in life in being productive adults.
Some 206 trainees – 99 females included – graduated in several areas of discipline.
Board member, Ganesh Singh said in 2016, training of persons with disabilities started through BIT and since then, significant strides have been made.
He said BIT trained 400 persons with physical disabilities, learning disabilities and persons who are deaf.
These persons, he said, were trained in the area of cosmetology, computer repairs, information technology, craft, woodworking, food processing, mat making and web designing. Eventually, he said, robotics and STEM education will be offered.
Singh said several individuals are currently employed and have established small businesses.
“More persons now with disabilities are economically and financially independent. This relationship has enabled persons with disabilities to become empowered and it’s all because of the work of the Government of Guyana and the Board of Industrial Training,” Singh said.
Persons with disabilities now benefit from policies that improve their lives.
BIT Chairman, Clinton Williams, said over the last six years, in excess of 500 persons were trained and the agency has been partnering with a number of public and private sector companies.
He said that the programmes are designed to target vulnerable groups such as school dropouts and youths from depressed communities.
Williams said since 2005, the programme has grown tremendously with over 24,000 trained in numerous skills areas.
He said from next Monday, an information technology and robotics training programme will commence in Region Seven with 60 beneficiaries.
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