New batch of SAJ stevedores graduate

Forty-six new port workers have received their formal certification under the Shipping Association of Jamaica's (SAJ) National Council on Technical and Vocational Education and Training Institute (NCTVET) accredited training programme.

The two new cohorts of stevedores graduated after successfully completing the NCTVET level-one certification in stevedoring operations.

The programme, introduced in 2009 to ensure the association's workers are formally trained and certified to international standards, has so far produced 150 graduates, who, in most cases, are automatically absorbed into the cadre of workers on the Port of Kingston.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony at the SAJ recently, Group CEO Trevor Riley said the organisation was proud of the training programme, which continues to support the ongoing evolution of the shipping industry in Jamaica and the region.

DELIBERATE STRATEGY

"Continuous skills training, through this and other certification programmes, is a deliberate SAJ strategy intended to bolster the competitive profile of workers within Jamaica's shipping industry," he noted. "This competency-based certification is one of the gateways to professionalism and has raised the bar of the service that our workers provide to the Port of Kingston.

As the Association prepares for the future and plans to make Jamaica a logistics hub, we are intensifying our cross training and NCTVET programme to ensure that all port workers are equipped for the tasks ahead," he added.

Guest speaker, Janice Robinson Longmore, deputy general manager, JN Fund Managers, urged the graduates not to rest on their laurels, having achieved these qualifications, but to prove their value to the organisation by going the extra mile.

"It's not just the organisation that benefits when you go the extra mile," she noted, highlighting ways in which the graduates can further their careers and enhance their organisation.

"Have the right attitude. it's very important to approach your days with passion. Understand your own core of ethics and always approach your job with a sense of pride and a sense of what is right and wrong. Resolve to build your own greatness, so that you can build greatness in this organisation and the people around us," she added.

The top employees for the year 2015 were also awarded for their outstanding performance:

- Worker of the Year and Worker of the 4th Quarter - Donovan Taylor

- first runner-up - Blandford Hall

- second runner-up - Vincent Pryce.