The Papua New Guinea National Apprenticeship and Trade Testing Board (NATTB) has conducted tests for heavy equipment fitters (HEF) and electrical at the Porgera gold mine, Enga province, Papua New Guinea.The tests in HEF level three and electrical level two were conducted in November last year, administered by William Tiru from NATTB’s Quality Assurance and Accreditation office under the PNG Department of Labour and Industrial Relations.
“We at NATTB work in partnership with Porgera Joint Venture to recognise and certify the skilled workforce.
“The whole idea is to really test and find out the skills of PJV employees and to certify them according to each level, according to their skills and knowledge,” Mr Tiru said.
The tests’ results will be made available at a later date.
Mr Tiru said the NATTB is a statutory body set up under an Act of Parliament to give certificates to trades personnel particularly in the technical area, in the country.
He said this only occurs when the personnel or trainees have some technical background so that NATTB can come in to certify the technical and knowledge accordingly.
PJV Maintenance Specialist Trainer Ian Ritchie said, “From a company perspective we believe that the training requirement that is put in place by the PNG government is not only beneficial to the PNG nationals, but it’s also very important to our own company.
“We need trained staff and we put in a large commitment to train those staff to ensure that we get the best possible outcome for both the employees as well as the company.”
Mr Tiru added that NATTB coordinates two systems. The first being the Apprenticeship System where employers recruit or engage apprentices for four years, and the second method is the Trade Testing system, such as the test conducted at PJV, which is for the informal sector.
“People may not have gone through any formal education but they have the skills and the knowledge and they can provide quality outcomes that employers need.
“It is like a quality check on the skill level of employees,” he said.
PJV ensures all candidates do however, receive the highest level of formal trade training for both the trade trainees and trade assistant candidates. Post Courier/PMW
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