Courts parent company commissions US$6M distribution centre in Guyana

– testimony to confidence in the economy

Unicomer Guyana Inc, home of the Courts and Lucky Dollar brands, has commissioned a new multimillion dollar distribution centre on Wednesday at Eccles Industrial Site, East Bank Demerara.

The 60,000 square feet facility has the capacity to offload 18 trucks or containers simultaneously and can house about 20 containers in the compound.

The distribution centre sits on four acres of land and replaces the warehouse that was located in Montrose, East Coast Demerara.

Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Unicomer Guyana Inc Managing Director Clyde de Haas said the expansion was necessary to facilitate growth in business as the company had outgrown the previous facility.

He noted that a lot of burden was taken away from management with the establishment of the facility and now they can channel their attention towards providing better services to the customers.

“We are able to focus on our primary function as a retailer and that is making sure that customers are getting the five-star service and simultaneously with that we have now is proper logistics function. This is not a warehouse anymore, it’s a distribution centre and we have a proper logistics function whereby the planning of the incoming stocks, the planning of the out bond stocks is all being done in a manner that is simple flow and things are not going against each other,” de Haas explained.

The commissioning ceremony was attended by several officials of the Unicomer Group including the Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President Guillermo Siman, who stated that the US$6 million investment in Guyana is reflective of the company’s confidence in the country’s economy and expressed gratitude to the Government for embracing the drive of the company.

“We look forward to our continued participation in the development of this country by fostering investments, generating employment and facilitating international trading and commerce by being a good corporate citizen in Guyana,” the Vice President stated.

The mega distribution centre currently provides employment for 50 persons and the number is expected to increase in the near future. These persons underwent training sessions in order to effectively operate the new stock picking machines and mechanised facilities in the warehouse.

President Donald Ramotar said Guyana has been making significant investments in developing its human capital.

“We have been investing heavily over the recent years. We want to provide for Government and for the investors as a whole, a workforce that is highly educated and second to none in the world,” he stated.

The President added that grand partnerships such as these between Government and private sector are crucial in order to transform Guyana into a modern and developed society.

He pointed out that his administration is focused on achieving this as he referred to the billions of dollars that is being plugged into the social sector every year.

The President spoke about the strides made in the education sector, noting that Guyana is on the verge of attaining Universal Secondary Education.

Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) President Lance Hinds recognised the contributions of the company to the local private sector and encouraged it to continue fulfilling its corporate responsibilities.

Acting Tourism Minister Irfaan Ali stated that Unicomer Guyana Inc has played a key role in the development of the private sector.

The Unicomer Group has been serving Guyanese for the past 20 years.