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September 11, 2009
Jamalco Workforce “…Better than the Bestâ€
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Jamalco employees have been commended by Prime Minister Bruce Golding for their role in the company’s outstanding production and safety performances for the first half of 2009, despite operating in a worldwide recession that has threatened the existence of the bauxite/alumina company.
The Prime Minister was keynote speaker at a function held at the company’s Halse Hall refinery in Clarendon on Friday, August 28, at which the company’s 34 departments received commemorative plaques and were also hailed by senior Alcoa officials.
Environment, Health & Safety Manager George Morgan also received a plaque from the Prime Minister and Executive Vice President, Global Primary Products Bernt Reitan in recognition of the location’s achievement of 5 million man-hours without a lost workday.
Production output in January 2009 averaged 3,766 tons per day. This not only exceeded the set target by 249 tons, per day, but made Jamalco the only Alcoa operation in LAC to achieve or exceed 100% of its plan. In addition, a digester output of 4110 tons per day in May made it the best month in the company’s history. Energy consumption in May was also at a record low. A new production record of 4448 tons per day was established on June 2, 2009 and an average digester output of 3944 tons per day made the second quarter of 2009, the best in the company’s history.
Prime Minister Golding in his remarks told workers that their achievements were “examples of innovation … you made an enormous contribution and were focused, motivated and purpose driven.â€
He said that he is convinced that each person knows the goal of the company and understands his or her role in the success of the company. “You are showing that you can swim against the current, that you are as good as the best and better than the rest,†he said. The Prime Minister also commended the management team and Alcoa for partnering with the government in finding a way to keep Jamalco open.
Jamalco’s Managing Director Jerome Maxwell declared in his remarks that “we are here to celebrate the performance of the team. We are now number 4 (among Alcoa’s refineries). That was the first step.†He affirmed that the team’s next goal is to get ahead of Western Australia refineries, to loud applause from the over 150 workers invited to represent their departments at the function held under a big, beautifully decorated tent in the Building 01 car park.
President of Alcoa’s Latin America & the Caribbean Frank Feder spoke of the dark days near the end of 2008 when the refinery ranked 9th out of the 9 Alcoa refineries and closure seemed imminent “and Jamalcoans had lost the gleam in their eyes.â€
Mr. Feder recounted the early days of 2009 when he began to see signs of real of improvement with increased production and safety performances, and he again saw the “gleam in your eyes which says we can do this.†He noted that it was the determination of Jamalcoans and Prime Minister Golding that kept Jamalco open. “Thank you from my heart for what you have done,†Mr. Feder concluded.
Mr. Reitan in his remarks noted that the talented Jamalco team had joined up with colleagues from Latin America, “and what we have seen is excellent, outstanding, first class.†He added that the location’s response to crisis has been proactive, it has demonstrated operational excellence and it has world class team in place. The mood he had experienced during the tour of the refinery that preceded the ceremony was akin to the feeling he had sensed among Jamaican athletes who performed outstandingly at the recent World Athletics Championships, he revealed.
The ceremony included an audio visual presentation recounting the challenges the company faced and the strategies used to overcome them. Members of the workforce, Anthony Douglas, Micelle Lindo and Edward Kerr also performed special items thanking God for the company’s success.
Guests at the function included Minister of Energy and Mining, Hon. James Robertson, Minister of Health & Member of Parliament for S. E. Clarendon Hon. Rudyard Spencer, members of the board of Clarendon Alumina Partners, as well as community and business representatives.
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