Mawarid Company receives award on Omanization

Mawarid Company, the largest private mining company in the Sultanate of Oman, was honoured by the Ministry of Manpower at its annual event held under the patronage of Lt. Gen. Malik bin Suleiman Al Maamary, Inspector General of Police and Customs. The Government celebrated the achievement of the private sector in different disciplines in appreciation for efforts made to increase Omanization rates in private establishments. Mawarid has earned recognition and was selected for this year’s awards due to its high rate of Omanization. The award was presented to Mawarid’s representative for achieving and maintaining high Omanization percentage in the year 2010. Mawarid’s Omanization percentage as at end of November 2010 stands at 76% against the government target of 35% for this sector with 366 out of a total of 483 employees being Omanis and such Mawarid remains at the forefront of making a meaningful contribution to the Omani Society.

Mr. Mohammed Al Barwani, Chairman MB Holding Group of companies has been over the years known to champion the cause of Omanization. He said “We are delighted to receive this award. It is part of our companies` mission, to serve the communities where we operate, which includes recruiting, training and development of local talent. We shall continue in the same direction with sincere dedication and responsibility.”

Following the footprints of its parent company MB Holding, Mawarid right from its inception has paid special attention on recruiting and developing nationals wherein as a policy employment preference is given to nationals. Mr. Mohammed Al Kharusi, Director - Human Resources & IT, MB Holding group of companies said: “Our human resources departments within the entire group have continued to implement the road map to transform processes towards functional excellence in all aspects. Mawarid as a part of its mission and corporate social responsibility has developed and implemented various Training and guidance programmes to enhance employee competencies through on the job and formal training programs including technical and non technical training for its Omani employees. This recognition will further strengthen our resolve in this direction.”

From January 2009 to November 2010, Mawarid has recruited a total of 62 new Omani employees – this despite the fact that Mining as an industry is relatively new to Oman; Mawarid encourages and supports its Omani employees to develop their respective disciplines and take up supervisory and leadership positions. A mission successfully achieved between the years 2009 -2010. In the year 2010 Mawarid provided more than 560 training seats to its Omani employees wherein employees attended training programs on their respective technical & functional skills, HSE, English language, supervisory management development, leadership and behavioural development.

Mawarid operates with a strong belief that an Organisation must focus on corporate social responsibility and business performance equally. The company’s unwavering commitment to corporate social responsibility includes the undertaking that all stakeholders in an area shall benefit from the company’s operations which is evident from the fact that out of a total of its 366 Omani employees more that 300 come from the areas in which Mawarid presently has operations or has plans to have operations in near future.

Mawarid is the first private sector mining company engaged in exploration and development of copper and gold deposits in the Sultanate of Oman. It currently operates open pit copper mines and processes ore at its copper concentrate facility in Al Batinah region of Oman. Established in 1997, Mawarid is a part of MB Holding Group of Companies, which employs more than 6000 employees and operates in more than 18 countries across four continents. It has diversified businesses across drilling and integrated oilfield services, exploration and production of oil and gas, engineering, manufacturing & trading, and mining and processing of minerals.