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ADDRESS BY
MOST HON. P.J. PATTERSON, ON, PC, QC, MP
PRIME MINISTER
AT THE OPENING OF
BREADNUT VALLEY WORKFORCE TRAINING &
CERTIFICATION INSTITUTE
•~ PARTNERSHIP FOR WORKFORCE AND
ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT"
BREADNUT VALLEY, CLARENDON
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2005
Salutations .
It is a very great pleasure for me to be here on this
important occasion to officially open the Breadnut Valley
Workforce Training & Certification Institute - a grand
name but one that reflects the importance we place on
the partnership between our National Training Agency and
JAMALCO - a Partnership for Workforce and Enterprise
Development.
UWI LIBRARIES
• Over the years, the mining sector has played a critical role
in our economic development and this unique project will
further enhance the sector's contribution. In addition to
what it promises for the growth of the bauxite and mining
industry, the project reflects this Administration's
determination to place our most important resource - our
people - at the centre of our development strategy.
The Jamaican economy is entering an unprecedented
period of expansion made possible by our efforts to
stimulate investment, modernise our physical
• infrastructure and reform the bureaucratic processes that
affect investment and business activity.
•
Investment is the prime mover in the growth of the
Jamaican economy. Considerable work has been done to
package and promote investment so that we now have an
agenda of major development projects to transform the
productive base of the economy .
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At the same time, we have been building up our human
capital. It requires a combination of adequate funding,
education and training to produce a highly skilled workforce
that is capable of taking advantage of modern technology.
Jobs and good wages will serve to alleviate poverty more
effectively and permanently than the best-structured and
administered welfare system. By providing our people with
opportunities for employment, for personal growth and
development, we create a people with self-respect,
commitment and a feeling that they have a stake in the
society. .. rrtv-'1·~ μ,V,J.' ,IJ ~k~ /H~lo?l, '
In the bauxite industry a reform process has been underway
that is aimed at enhancing its competitiveness in order to
meet the challenges in the global markets. Even the most
stubborn or unenlightened among us now acknowledge that
Jamaica must adapt to the demands of the global
environment. We cannot afford to be disengaged from the
operations and movements of the global economy .
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• In recent years, the industry has seen:
✓ improved relations at the workplace;
✓ greater participation of the workforce in decisionmaking
regarding production.
✓ training programmes that have helped to raise
productivity levels to world class standards.
A new tax regime has also been introduced to help facilitate
investment.
The results of this reform process are to be seen in the
• qualitative change for the better in workplace relations, the
rising productivity levels at all plants, improved cost
competitiveness and increased investment activity over the
past three to four years.
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Last year, alumina production exceeded 4 million tonnes for
the first time in our history, despite the disruption of
production for several weeks by hurricane Ivan. Gross
foreign exchange earnings were close to US$900 Million
mark, also for the first time .
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• The expansion of the JAMALCO plant within budget and on
schedule, was a major factor in the improved performance
of the industry.
It is on the basis of the careful work done to reform the
industry and the effort to package and promote investment
that we are now poised for the largest expansion in the
history of the industry, even surpassing the developments in
the 1960s. But if we are to continue to improve our
performance in terms of meeting the aggressive schedule
and ensuring cost-effectiveness, even greater efforts must
e be made to upgrade the skill levels of our workers.
This Institute will play a vital role in this important aspect of
our development plans for the industry.
The geographic location of the Institute is no accident.
While filling a critical need for the upgrading of the skills of
our workforce, it will also make a significant contribution
towards the achievement of one of the overall objectives of
my Administration's development strategy - the creation of
opportunities for Jamaicans within their own communities.
e This will help to provide a better quality of life for the
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• residents of these communities, and improve the social and
economic well-being of the wider society.
In the potential of our people, we have at our disposal one
of the key currencies to navigate and negotiate our way in
this global economy. That currency will be the internationally
benchmarked certification of all our workers to make them
and - by extension - the country, globally competitive!
All our workers, not just those in Mining, but those in
Hospitality, in Information Communications Technology, in
• Agriculture and Agro-processing, in Business, Commerce and
General Services - all must be certified competent!
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In this regard, JAMALCO, as a world-class company,
competing with other world-class companies and their
workers, has seen the need to ensure that all its workers
meet the required levels of competence. Training and
certification has been a key factor in the company's push to
ensure that all of JAMALCO's workers are as good as, or
better than their counterparts anywhere else in the world .
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UWI LIBRARIES
• Ladies and gentlemen, this relationship between the HEART
Trust/National Training Agency and JAMALCO is a pivotal
one.
It is a perfect example of how the public and private sectors
must cooperate to forge solid partnerships for workforce and
enterprise development.
A major company like JAMALCO must be able to look within
its local operating environment to find the human resources
and talents to support the expansion of its business in order
• to meet precise targets and to remain world competitive.
•
This is also critical if the Jamaican economy is to attain the
maximum benefit that an expansion such as this can provide
for our own people .
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UWI LIBRARIES
• I am very pleased to learn, that in keeping with my own
clearly expressed wish, most of the trainees in this project
are being recruited from the central parishes (Clarendon, St.
Catherine and Manchester). If we just take our athletes as
one example, a mighty abundance of talent exists and is just
waiting to be tapped!
The majority of the trainees, I am told are from Clarendon,
with most of these from the communities in which ALCOA
operates- and that is as it should be. About 1600 of the
number of trainees will be trained here at Breadnut Valley
• and another 400 trained elsewhere.
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Agencies of the State such as the HEART Trust/NTA must be
flexible and dynamic enough to respond by identifying,
preparing and delivering the human capital to meet the
labour demand. HEART/NTA coordinates and facilitates a
training system significantly larger than the institutions it
directly controls and operates. It is strategically positioned
to meet this formidable need .
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• This project provides a template, a blueprint if you will, for
the bauxite/alumina and other sectors of the economy to
emulate. I have been keenly watching the development of
this important and far-reaching project.
The National Training Agency, has set an ambitious target to
train, assess and certify a total pool of 2,600 persons by the
end of 2006 in a range of skills and competencies for the
bauxite/alumina sector.
Many of these workers will be able to compete for
• employment at JAMALCO, as well as among the other
players in the mining and manufacturing sectors here and
overseas.
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( HEART has training sites at its National Tool & Engineering
Institute, Portmore Academy, Central High School in May
Pen, and at private firms Power Service Company Limited,
Solid Rock Construction Company Limited] With the addition
of this new facility here at the Breadnut Valley we are we
are well-equipped to prepare our people on a timely basis to
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• meet the different phases of JAMALCO's manpower
requirements.
Ladies and gentlemen, Jamaica has been a major player in
the world bauxite industry since the 1950s and 60s; over the
period, we have developed a significant cadre of highly
skilled professionals and craftsmen who are world-beaters!
I am pleased that the partnership of HEART and JAMALCO
has the benefit of the considerable reservoir of expertise in
those who have given yeoman service to the sector over the
• years, who will pass on their competencies to the new and
emerging workforce. I refer to the 57 assessors and 13
instructors who will work on this training and certification
initiative. Many of them could not be with us this morning
because of the exigencies of the job. Please convey my
thanks to them .
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UWI LIBRARIES
• This facility, combined with the others already mentioned,
will train and certify over time 300 persons in the first phase
of the project in Welding, Pipefitting, Mechanical and
Electrical Maintenance, Civil Construction and Equipment
Operations. I am confident that they will be world-class
workers, for we know that whatever we put our minds to,
we Jamaicans are world-class!
I must also congratulate JAMALCO for its full cooperation in
seeking to engage members of this community in this
initiative. I commend the continuing studies programme
• designed to provide a pathway for qualification and entry
into the training and certification programme.
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As JAMALCO grows and prospers so do Clarendon and all
the communities across the mining belt.
In closing, let me congratulate and thank the team-players,
the men and women of HEART led by Alister Cooke and
Robert Gregory; the hardworking team at JAMALCO, led by
Jerome Maxwell and his management team; as well as the
indefatigable public servant, Hon. Dr. Carlton Davis, and the
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.. ..
• team at the Jamaica Bauxite Institute, who together will
make such a great contribution to building a world class
workforce for the bauxite mining and alumina sector! The
benefits will accrue to our entire nation.
To you, the trainees, I say, take full advantage of this
wonderful opportunity that is yours today. You are the
pioneers and trailblazers in this project. I urge you to set a
fine example for those who will follow. Your contribution will
be measured both in terms of your own personal
achievements and in your contribution to the development
• of the important mining sector and the entire Jamaican
economy.
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This marriage of HEART and JAMALCO, which has now been
consummated provides the foundation for higher levels of
productivity, profits and prosperity!
It gives me great pleasure to officially open the Breadnut
Valley Workforce Training and Certification Institute .
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