A new Land Surveying Institution will be developed in Guyana, which will serve the entire Caribbean as well as countries in Latin America.

Guyanese President Irfaan Ali, who made the announcement on August 10, emphasised, “we must be in a position in three years to have such a skill base that we can be tendering in every other jurisdiction to provide surveying work.”

To facilitate this vision, Ali cited the need for improvements in the training and skill development of future land surveyor candidates from the Guyana Technical Institute (GTI).

This, Ali said, will bolster their knowledge and address any existing gaps, as he swore in five new land surveyors at State House on Wednesday, highlighting that a number of this has to be put in place first before this can be done including the development of three manuals; one each on mathematics, writing skills, language and a manual on geography for the national landscape.

President Ali argued that revenues from oil and gas will help to position Guyana by ensuring that the right technology is acquired and the country’s human resources are trained. He underscored the importance of changing the way Guyanese operate in light of the rapidly changing environment.

In addressing the new land surveyors, the president pointed to the importance of their roles in supporting the country’s infrastructure development.

The new land surveyors were Marc Nicholson, Elijah Persaud, Royston Washington, Tedwin Roach and Terron Roberts.

He spoke about the possibility of building a new city.

Opportunity to build a new city

According to Ali, “Just 25 minutes away from the city you have an opportunity to build a new city that will be above sea level. So all of these new things; the innovation village, the agricultural drive that we’re moving ahead on, all these things require a different scale of operation.”

To support this, the Guyanese president announced that his Government will be examining the opportunities for land surveyors to advance their education by allocating a number of scholarships to them annually. Ali reminded the new surveyors that the profession brings with it a high degree of honesty and integrity.

He urged the new surveyors to remember that their profession has the potential to impact the lives of generations. After the swearing-in ceremony, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations handed over more than US$30,000 of land surveying equipment to the GTI to support its land surveyors’ programme.