Guyana’s Local Content Secretariat (LCS) is clamping down on contract bundling, with companies at risk of not being certified compliant with the law.
In a statement on Friday, the LCS noted that companies were issued “a final caution” to desist from the practice of bundling services listed on the First Schedule of Guyana’s Local Content Act.
The LCS pointed out that companies have been reminded that contracts with bundled services awarded before the implementation of Guyana’s Local Content Act “will not be recognised or counted” when measuring compliance with the minimum targets set out in the First Schedule.
And by defaulting on the minimum local content levels, companies will not be awarded the Certificate of Compliance by the Secretariat at the end of the year.
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“Without a Certificate of Compliance, it means that the Contractor or Sub-Contractor has failed to carry out petroleum operations without the minimum local content requirement, thereby committing an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of fifty (50) million dollars,” the LCS outlined.
The topic of contract bundling has been heavily ventilated in the local media in recent weeks.
Guyana’s Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat had interfaced with Private Sector Commission’s Local Content Advisory Committee (LCAG) where it was agreed that the push for unbundled contracts and a thirty-day payment period for small and medium-sized businesses in the sector.
The issue is being championed by the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI). Its President, Timothy Tucker has been at the forefront of the advocacy and has said that the practice of contract bundling puts locals at a disadvantage.
He even went as far as to say that it runs counter to the spirit and intent of Guyana’s local content law.
