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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, August 28, 2020
Greenidge, former TT Energy Minister on local-content panel
PRESIDENT, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali on Thursday announced key appointments to Guyana’s Local Content Panel, which is expected to conduct expansive consultation and review, and devise recommendations that will inform the country’s Local Content Policy. “I strongly believe that Guyanese must play an integral role and benefit from the fortunes of the sector,” President Ali said. While the head of state acknowledged that there is
Shyam Nokta much to be done in terms of capacity building among local stakeholders, he believes that with the right mix, which includes technology transfer and partnership between experienced companies and the local private sector, a sustainable and lucrative pathway can be achieved for Guyanese within the Local content policy. The appointees to the Local Content Panel are as follows: SHYAM NOKTA Nokta will serve as Chairman of the Advisory
Panel. He holds a Master’s of Science Degree in Environmental Assessment and Management from the University of Oxford–Brookes, and a Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Studies from the University of Guyana. He is the recipient of several awards and scholarships, including the Fulbright Scholarship to pursue Doctoral studies. Nokta has accumulated over 20 years’ experience, working in the areas of environmental assessment and management,
committees in the areas of tourism, conservation and climate change and ‘green’ growth. Nokta has also held the position of President of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA), and currently serves as the Chief Representative for the Caribbean for the Delhi-based Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).
and at British Gas, where he worked as the Lead Economist. Ramnarine holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemistry, a Master’s of Science in Petroleum Engineering, and a Master’s Degree in Business (MBA). Since leaving ministerial office, he has worked as an energy consultant, and as a lecturer at the Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business. In 2014, he was named “Energy Executive of the Year” by the Petroleum Economist magazine.
Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Energy; Petrotrin; Amoco; BP T&T; and BP plc in London. He has also advised clients in East, West and Southern Africa; the Middle East; Central and Southeast Asia; Latin America and the Caribbean.
CARL B. GREENIDGE Greenidge is an economist who has served as Guyana’s finance min-
utive-level experience. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) who holds a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Haynes is an Adjunct Professor in Finance and Accounting at the University of the District of Columbia, and a public lecturer in leadership and management. He is also the founder and president of Haynes Incorporated, a Washington-based international accounting and manage-
Carl B. Greenidge
Kevin Ramnarine
Floyd Haynes
Dr. Anthony Paul
Carvil Duncan
conservation, tourism development, and climate change. Nokta has also served as an adviser to the President, and as Head of the Office of Climate Change, where he co-ordinated Guyana’s response to climate change, the development and implementation of the Low-Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), and REDD+Partnership with the Kingdom of Norway. He was also involved in key conservation initiatives such as the establishing of Guyana’s National Protected Areas System, and has chaired several national boards and
ister from 1983-1992. An international public servant, he has served in several top-level positions, including as secretary-general of the ACP Group of States, and in the 10th Parliament, he served as the Opposition spokesman on finance and international economic cooperation, and as foreign secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. FLOYD HAYNES Haynes is a Guyanese-born professional with over 30 years of exec-
ment consulting firm, and a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.
DR. ANTHONY PAUL Dr. Paul is the Principal Consultant, Energy and Strategy, Association of Caribbean Energy Specialist Limited. He spearheaded a Rapid Analysis of the State of Readiness of Guyana’s Hydrocarbon Regulatory Framework study, facilitated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2016, and played a lead role in the formulation of Guyana’s draft Local Content Policy framework, which is currently under review. He has worked with the
they will approach the development of the oil-andgas sector in a non-partisan manner. The recent appointments are part of the Government’s drive to fulfil its Manifesto promises, as it relates to securing the benefits of oil and gas for all Guyanese. The critical areas which are central to the overall strategy in the oil-and-gas sector are a framework for proper management of resources, transparency and accountability, and securing benefits for Guyanese.
KEVIN RAMNARINE Ramnarine served as the Minister of Energy of Trinidad and Tobago (2011 to 2015). During his tenure, he created a positive climate for investment, including the fiscal reforms which resulted in major investments in deep-water exploration. Prior to being appointed Energy Minister, he held positions in the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago,
CARVIL DUNCAN Duncan is the former Chairman of the Public Service Commission (PSC). The government has continuously assured that
UG to continue classes online for first semester THE University of Guyana will be continuing its classes online for the first semester of academic year 2020/2021, starting from October 5, 2020. The university is happy that it managed to deliver upwards of 80 per cent of its courses online during the first safe mode period (March to July). According to a release, though the university lost 473 of its 8,700 students during this period, every effort is being made during this New Year to better support the delivery and capacity of lecturers and to bring back those students who had to withdraw for various reasons. These reasons included access to Internet, access to computers or suitable phones,
difficult personal circumstances, inability to adapt and power instability in some areas. Over the next three years as UG develops its online and blended capacity, the university could spend around US$3 million to put protective measures in place and convert to a top-of-the-line blended mode. While this process has been fast tracked to begin this year, it will be rolled out over a few years. Internationally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, over 33 per cent of global universities have been unable to deliver and have been forced to close. “It is projected that 50 per cent of universities which closed may close permanently. It should be noted that UG never closed but
moved online almost immediately. For those universities that remained open scrambling to respond to the pandemic by getting online, attrition rates (withdrawals and dropouts) average from eight to 23 per cent globally. Compared to this, UG’s rate was 5.5 per cent. While the university acknowledges, as most university’s worldwide have done, that the move online was far from perfect, the fact that the University of Guyana was able to move from 100 courses online in December 2019 to 900 by July 2020 and to deliver these successfully to over 8,000 students, including adapting assessments and university’s polices at the same time, was a test of resilience, determination, creativity and dedication of the staff and students at the
university,” the release said. UG refused to give up in the face of grave adversity produced by two difficult coinciding situations in Guyana, but delivered in the best way it could, the release added. Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paloma Mohamed–Martin has outlined and underscored the administrations gratitude to staff, students and collaborating partners and re-stated the university’s commitment to supporting educated and exemplary citizen students for Guyana. The university, the release said, is doing everything reasonably possible in the present context to significantly improve its online systems in the coming semester.
