Ok Tedi Mining Limited (OTML) celebrated International Women’s Day on Tuesday, March 8, showing appreciation for the contribution its female workforce has made towards the Company’s growth and success as well as towards nation-building.
“Ok Tedi is an equal opportunity employer, and diversity and inclusion are paramount to our success. Females play an important role in our society and when given the opportunity, not only do they succeed as individuals, the company and the country also prospers,” said Managing Director and CEO, Mr Musje Werror.
“We are driving the message hard throughout the workforce that ‘gender equality’ is everyone’s responsibility starting from the Executive Leadership Team to employees at the shop floor,” said Mr Werror.
“We stand with our women to Break The Bias, and we encourage women to speak up, rise up and come out of their comfort zones to fully realise their potential and participate equally in the workforce and in their communities.”
This year, Ok Tedi had eight female representatives attend the Business & Professional Women’s Network ‘International Women’s Day Breakfast’ in Port Moresby. The group was led by the Manager Finance, and recently-appointed Ok Tedi Women’s Network (OWN) Chair, Ms Beverly Pasen.
“This is an opportunity for our women employees who are silent hardworking performers to be recognised and appreciated for the work they do for the company and the contributions they make for their families.
“Although we were unable to bring everyone to this event, the day was still celebrated by the female and male workforce in different sections of the operations. It is a show of appreciation, recognition and support of women in the OTML workforce and in the communities we reside in. We should be proud to celebrate this day as women because when women are educated and employed, the whole nation thrives,” Ms Pasen said.
Also pleasing to note was the attendance of a local employee, Ms Diana Bineng who is a Haul Truck Operator at the IWD Breakfast. Ms Bineng accomplished many firsts on this trip, including the breakfast, a plane ride and a visit to the nation’s capital, Port Moresby.
“I am humbled and thank the Ok Tedi Executive Leadership Team, my General Manager, Derrick Kelly, the OWN Committee and the Communication & Public Relations Team for this once in a lifetime opportunity. I was excited to meet so many women from different backgrounds, heard their stories, and am inspired to continue my role at work, at home in a more refined way,” said Ms Bineng.
“I can also proudly say that I had my first escalator ride on this journey at the famous Vision City Mall, amid a lot of screams and gasps. And despite the stares, I grabbed onto my colleague’s arm, almost toppling us over on the escalator. Thankfully, she knew I would do something like that so she was prepared to support us,” said a laughing Diana.
Ms Bineng has been with OTML for 7 years and said the insight gained from this trip makes her proud to be a female haul truck operator in a field that is mostly male-dominated, but it also propels her to perform to her maximum potential.
The Mining Business Unit has a total of 48 heavy equipment operators and plans to recruit an additional 15 trainees from the Company’s Preferred Area Development training program this year.
The Company targets to increase the number of females in the organisation to 20% and have 25% female representation in leadership roles before the end of 2025.