Navachab shrugs off claims on job offers

THE Navachab Gold Mine at Karibib has dismissed claims by some former workers of its predecessor company that empty job offers had been made to about 280 ex-KMCC employees.

They claimed to The Namibian that Navachab had promised them that they would be absorbed by Navachab when the contract between the Karibib Mining and Construction Company (KMCC) and Navachab expired. The claimed that Navachab had contacted them to come for interviews – conducted in February – but that they had not been offered jobs.In the meantime, they claimed, Navachab had employed people from the Scorpion Zinc Mine, Namdeb and Roessing.Karibib Mining and Construction Company’s contract with Navachab expired on December 31 and was not renewed.But the mining company has dismissed their claims and said 35 ex-KMCC employees had jobs at Navachab.Navachab’s Human Resources Manager, Wilson Gaochab, told The Namibian yesterday that they had tried to recruit ex-KMCC employees wherever possible.He said it was worth noting that the new mining department, created to perform mining and related activities for Anglogold Namibia, only provided for approximately 50 per cent of the previous contractor’s job total.This, he said, was primarily due to changes in heavy mining equipment types and sizes.Given that figure “we could only accommodate a certain number of new appointments to bring about the required efficiencies”.He said in line with company requirements for the new type and size of heavy equipment, Navachab had invited ex-KMCC employees to undergo the ‘Devor Test’, one of a battery of tests for heavy mining equipment operators.Gaochab said to date 35 ex-KMCC employees who had done well in the tests had been employed in the 83 available new positions, adding that ex-KMCC employees are 42 per cent of Navachab’s workforce.”The remaining 48 per cent will be filled in due course,” he said.Goachab to ensure that the company remained competitive and efficient, they also recruited from other places – especially for skills not found at Karibib.Navachab Gold Mine is a subsidiary of Anglogold Namibia.The claimed that Navachab had contacted them to come for interviews – conducted in February – but that they had not been offered jobs.In the meantime, they claimed, Navachab had employed people from the Scorpion Zinc Mine, Namdeb and Roessing.Karibib Mining and Construction Company’s contract with Navachab expired on December 31 and was not renewed.But the mining company has dismissed their claims and said 35 ex-KMCC employees had jobs at Navachab.Navachab’s Human Resources Manager, Wilson Gaochab, told The Namibian yesterday that they had tried to recruit ex-KMCC employees wherever possible.He said it was worth noting that the new mining department, created to perform mining and related activities for Anglogold Namibia, only provided for approximately 50 per cent of the previous contractor’s job total.This, he said, was primarily due to changes in heavy mining equipment types and sizes.Given that figure “we could only accommodate a certain number of new appointments to bring about the required efficiencies”.He said in line with company requirements for the new type and size of heavy equipment, Navachab had invited ex-KMCC employees to undergo the ‘Devor Test’, one of a battery of tests for heavy mining equipment operators.Gaochab said to date 35 ex-KMCC employees who had done well in the tests had been employed in the 83 available new positions, adding that ex-KMCC employees are 42 per cent of Navachab’s workforce.”The remaining 48 per cent will be filled in due course,” he said.Goachab to ensure that the company remained competitive and efficient, they also recruited from other places – especially for skills not found at Karibib.Navachab Gold Mine is a subsidiary of Anglogold Namibia.