The largest Nickel and Cobalt Mine in Papua New Guinea maintains its corporate obligation to provide job training to unfortunate youths along its project corridor on fields that does not need specialized qualification.

Through these obligations, Ramu NiCo Management (MCC) Limited (RNML) always recruits youths annually from the impacted communities around the mine site, with regards to their ward councilor’s recommendation to RNML KBK Community Affairs (CA)  Office for recruitment and training.

Senior Trainer for Heavy Equipment Operators Ivan Iroro said the youths come to the Company through an established agreement between the KBK landowners and RNML CA Department for local recruitments.

Through this agreement, the youths are recruited and trained to operate the VOLVO Articulated Dump Truck ( ADT)  vehicles.

“The operator training certificate and permit are given after 4 to 6 months of training when they are confident to Operate a Volvo ADT Dump Truck in the mine pit,” Iroro said.

He said the company was also helping to develop the human resource of the community and country.

“Even after the mining ends, the youths can use these skills and certificates to find jobs elsewhere,” the trainer said.

Ivan is also the trainer for national hires that come through the Madang Head Office up to KBK mine where they do theory and later they do practical on the old pits at the mine.

“We run heavy equipment operator (HEO) training for local landowners. We train them to become VOLVO Operators,” Iroro said.

A trainee for this year’s batch Unba Sime from a village next to the KBK mine shared his sediments and thanked RNML for always assisting local youths to better themselves.

He said most of the youths that will be doing the training this year comes from disadvantage families who cannot afford for their school fees to continue on with education.

“Most of us didn’t make it through the normal education system and we had to remain back in the village, jobless and concentrate on subsistence farming,” the trainee said.

He said through Ramu NiCo, they can now develop their skills, work and look after their family.

from Left; Heavy Equipment OperatorTrainer Ivan Iroro, and trainee youths from KBK Meck Petrus, Tobby Mathias, Bora Tobby, Umba Sime and John Deveo at KBK