Hundreds show up at Guyana job fair in Trinidad

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(Trinidad Express) Hundreds of people showed up yesterday for the Guyana Government—Trinidad and Tobago Diaspora Job Fair at Passage to Asia in Chaguanas.

The event, which was hosted by the Government of Guyana in partnership with the private sector, provided an opportunity for people seeking employment in the South American country to interact with prospective employers.

Among the crowd were Trinidadians and Guyanese who said their primary interest in attending yesterday’s event was to seek employment in Guyana.

When the Sunday Express spoke to Trinidadians, they said they were motivated to attend the event because of what they felt were dwindling job opportunities available in the country.

Twenty-three-year-old graduate of The University of the West Indies Kasal Sant said he had obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Process and Chemical Engineering but was yet to secure a job in the country.

“My purpose for coming here today is to seek employment. The officials from Guyana had quite a lot to say about development within their country, and that’s something I’m looking forward to—and I’m not exactly seeing it in Trinidad. I’m looking to see, first of all, if I can get a job in Guyana; but also if the prospects there are relative to those in our own country,” he said.

Asked if he had previously considered working in Guyana, he said he had, because of recent developments in the oil and gas industry in that country.

“My field of study is oil and gas, and food and beverage. That is something I think everyone would know—that Guyana is an oil and gas industry,” he said.

He said beyond earning a living, the concern of standard of living was also an essential consideration.

“I was very interested to hear what the officials said about development, including housing, and that is a consideration, because, yes, everyone wants to secure a job—but there is also survival and expenses. That is essential for life as well,” he told the Sunday Express.

For a 33-year-old single mother who said it was becoming increasingly difficult to find employment here, her main goal for attending the job fair was to earn a living.

The Charlieville resident, who asked not to be identified, said she was notified of the job fair via WhatsApp on Friday.

“I seeing there is a lot of opportunity in Guyana than here in Trinidad. It is very difficult to get a job in Trinidad. I am not working and I have to mind me and my child, so I want to explore the job opportunities there. It is really hard to live without a job,” she said.

Businessman Rambeer Maniram, 64, who migrated from Guyana in 1979, said while he did not plan to return to Guyana, he wanted to deepen his investment in his country of birth.

“My roots are already here. I came today to see what other business opportunities there are. I go to Guyana to conduct business because there are a lot of opportunities there. This is one Caribbean now, so it is not about Guyana or Trinidad anymore,” he said.

Managing director of Trinidad Tower Cranes Services Ltd and Tower Cranes of Guyana Roland Baboolal said through his interaction with Trinidadians during the event, many expressed a desire to move to Guyana.

“I’m seeing a lot of people flocking, saying they want to leave Trinidad to go Guyana because there is not a lot of work here in Trinidad. They are looking to migrate to Guyana, because they know that Trinidad is a little slow right now, and they have to go across to Guyana to find work,” he noted.

Baboolal said there were increasing opportunities for employment in the construction and energy sectors in Guyana, with companies seeking to fill the shortage.

Not discriminatory

Foreign Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Guyana Robert Persaud told the Sunday Express the initiative sought to inform interested people about the opportunities that exist in Guyana in both the public and private sectors.

“One of the objectives here was to present what is taking place in the country: jobs that exist; the long-term growth potential of the country; developments in health, education, housing; and the country’s quality of life and living standards,” he explained.

With the recent boom in Guyana, he said the country now faced a significant human resource deficit.

This, he said, would be filled through the diaspora in Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname and North America.

He said while the job fair targeted Guyanese nationals, it did not discriminate against interested Trinidad and Tobago citizens.

“It is not a discriminatory one, but today that emphasis is on targeting the Guyanese diaspora in Trinidad and Tobago. Because it started in the Guyanese diaspora, I want to say that is the primary focus. But certainly, if Trinidadians see an opportunity, they can contact a company or an entity, whether they are Guyanese-based or Trinidad-based, and that opportunity exists as part of the CSME, in terms of free movement of skill—that is also another opportunity,” he said.

He said while the job fair fostered an environment for employment, it was up to the individual to follow up on the interaction.

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