Engineer Jacquelyn Major: Guyana’s ‘Iron Lady’

Jacquelyn Major

To some she is known as the ‘Iron Lady’ – maybe for the same reason former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was so dubbed – but when Jacquelyn Major is out in the street supervising road projects she knows she must have an iron grip on what is happening to ensure the timely and exact completion of works.

Major is an engineer but she is not too concerned about being in what some call a ‘man’s world’; rather she loves what she does and everyone she supervises must fall into line to ensure the success of the project.

She was dubbed the ‘Iron Lady’ by engineer Joseph Holder – better known as ‘Joe the bridge man’ as he worked on the Demerara Harbour Bridge – because when he saw her interacting with the workers she always seemed stern and tough.

Is she? “Well you need to be because if you are a pushover then nobody would take you seriously,” she told the Sunday Stabroek in a recent interview.

“There are times when you need that approach when you are dealing with contractors and workmen in the field.”

At any given time Major can be found at the site of a bridge or road under construction decked out in jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, floppy hat and of course construction boots, and for her that it the ideal working situation. But she does not spend all her working days in the sun (and sometimes even into the wee hours if the morning if timely completion is to be achieved);