The value created by GACIO’s US$30 million marine facility on the West Bank of Demerara was enormous, said Guyana President Irfaan Ali at the commissioning ceremony on Jan. 13.
Ali delivered the feature address at the event and said the facility played an integral role in developing Region 3.
“Let me frankly say, if we did not have this development, our pace of development in Region 3 would have been curtailed by 25% at least because we did not have an offloading facility…,” he remarked.
Spread across six acres, the massive investment will complement all the other proposed developments for the West Bank Demerara area, including the Gas-to-Energy project. GAICO has already begun executing works for the project.
Over 200 jobs are expected to be created.
Over the last eight years, the site was used as a wharf facility to moor company vessels and for discharging and storing equipment and construction materials. Drydocking and maintenance work is also being done currently for company vessels.
The brains behind the project, GAICO Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Komal Singh who also doubles as the Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) said the project was due in 2019, but permitting hiccups were faced. In 2020, GAICO got the all-clear and set ahead with its plan.
“We are not late. If we had started early, we would have achieved a lot more but we were still able to achieve quite a bit as of today,” he said. “What we are seeing here today is that once there is a will, there is a way and we need to make sure that we capitalize on the opportunities we are presented.”
Singh, like President Ali, advocated for the development of consortiums, like GAICO did with Sustainable Environmental Solutions (SES) back in 2021. Partnering with the Guyana Shore Base Inc. and Corena Group, GAICO snagged a 10-year contract with ExxonMobil for waste management.
“We could not have done it without bringing ourselves into a consortium,” he continued.
GAICO Construction and General Services Inc. started from humble beginnings; with a little bobcat doing small-scale construction. The company has blossomed into a large-scale venture plugging millions into Guyana’s development. It started with construction but also dominated the dredging industry with an extensive vessel fleet that includes Cutter Head Dredges, Hydraulic Cutter Head Dredges, Tugs, Barges, Supply Vessels and Backhoe Dredges.
