- CONTRIBUTED
Human Employment and Resource Training (HEART) Academy certified individuals at the Jamaica Conference Centre yesterday at a forum staged by the Rockfort-based Caribbean Cement Company Limited to inform the HEART certified individuals from the surrounding communities about employment opportunities available under the company's expansion and modernisation programme.

CARIBBEAN CEMENT Company Limited's (CCCL) decision to hire only HEART-certified persons on its current expansion programme received major support yesterday from Phillip Paulwell, Minister of Technology, Industry, Energy and Commerce.

Minister Paulwell revealed that CCCL has invested millions of dollars into training hundreds of Jamaicans at the HEART (Human Employment and Resource Training ) academy located in Rockfort, east Kingston and as such it was prudent that those persons benefit from the jobs being made available.

"....We are insisting that only those persons who are trained (get the jobs)."

Minister Paulwell was addressing a room full of HEART certified persons at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston yesterday.

The occasion was the Rockfort-based CCCL's scheduled meeting with all the HEART certified individuals in the surrounding communities regarding employ-ment and job opportunities in the company's expansion and modernisation programme.

NO EXTORTION, BIAS

The minister insisted that extortion and brute force would be resisted.

"People will not be employed on any strength of weaponry, there will be no guns on site, there will be no extortion, and we are adamant about that," he said.

The Gleaner learnt that up to 600 jobs would be made available for HEART certified persons at the peak of CCCL's current expansion programme.

Minister Paulwell also emphasised that there would be no sexual prejudice in the rewarding of the available jobs.

"Anything a man can do, a woman can do it too," he said to applause of approval. He continued: "I don't know about the better than argument but I know the capability of our women."

The minister also disclosed that although priority would be given to Rockfort residents, the current expansion programme would employ certified persons from outside the east Kingston jurisdiction.