Youth Development
Public Education Reaches Out to Mayaro
On Monday 3 and Tuesday 4 August 2009, 36 Form Five and Six students from the Mayaro, Guayaguayare and Rio Claro communities experienced what a number of tertiary level students and graduates did a month ago. Our Public Education Team condensed a five-day workshop into a two-day Natural Gas Education workshop.

The recently-held Tertiary Level workshop in Natural Gas Education piqued the interest of Mayaro Past Pupils’ Association leader Oliver Alexander. He felt that the content of the workshop was relevant to the residents of Mayaro and surrounding areas.
The NGC UTT Team with Mr. Alexander

A request was made by Mr. Alexander to NGC to have a workshop similar to the Tertiary Education workshop for the students. He reiterated the importance of such a programme to the Mayaro community, as it is widely known that the genesis of the natural gas industry occurred in this and that most of the natural gas comes from the fields on the south-east coast. Additionally, NGC’s major facility the Beachfield Upstream Development slug catcher facility is located in Guayaguayare and he felt that the younger ones should be aware of NGC’s operations’ in the area.

Day One
The first day of the workshop was held at the Mayaro Resource Centre between 9:00 am and 3:00pm. Presentations included Arden Rodriguez, Business Analyst, Business Development at the National Energy Corporation. He covered several areas including the History of the Natural Gas Industry and The Downstream Sector. His presentation was followed by the Upstream Sector, delivered by a Senior Instructor in the Petroleum Department at UTT’s Point Lisas Campus, Francis Jaipaulsingh.

In the afternoon session, the students were exposed to the Basic Science of Hydrocarbons, delivered by NGC Public Information Assistant, Vindira Deobaran. This was followed a review of all NGC’s Pipeline Operations, by Bhagwandeen Frankie, Public Information Officer. The end of the first day allowed us to come to one conclusion, which is the students of Mayaro are indeed very knowledgeable about what was being presented to them. The pertinence and depth of their questions provided the impetus for fruitful discussions with the presenters.		 Day Two
The second day of the workshop was conducted at the Point Lisas Campus of UTT and included an interactive presentation on Careers in Energy, delivered by Bhagwandeen Frankie. The final presentation was on Environment, Health and Safety in the Industry, facilitated by Acting Manager Environment, Health, Safety and Security at NGC, Antonia Lucky.
A cross section of the students at the workshop

The lively style of Antonia’s delivery kept the students very entertained and enthused. Again the questions reflected the students understanding of the EHSS aspects of the industry. The most exciting part of the last workshop day was when the students were able to see the plants on the Point Lisas Industrial Estate.

On seeing the giant structures, one student commented, “That Methanol plant (M5000) must be one of the most sophisticated things on this estate. I can only imagine the tremendous brainpower and expertise that would have gone into its design and construction”.

NGC wishes to thank the Mayaro Past Pupils’ Association for seeking the interest in the Natural Gas Education Programme, as we feel that the efforts over the two days have left a lasting impression in the minds of these young scholars.