Semirara Mining spends P20M for scholars

SEMIRARA Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC), a unit of DMCI Holdings Corp., said it absorbed 281 vocational graduates from Semirara Island in Antique during the last three years, spending P20 million for their tuition and allowances.

The graduates came from the Semirara Training Center Inc., a nonstock, nonprofit corporation that aims to provide local residents with marketable trade skills and registered with the Technical Education and Skills Development
Authority (Tesda).

“We are committed to providing our host community with high-value employment. We are now able to absorb more locals into our work force as a result of our expansion operations on the island,” company President and COO Victor Consunji said.

Over 3,500 people work in its mining operations, which was not affected by a series of mine closures of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Its coal operations is supervised by the Department of Energy as it is directly feeding power plants in the country.

About 7 percent of its workers are skilled locally by its training center.

Enrollment on its training center is open not only to local residents of Semirara Island, but to residents from nearby islands, such as Caluya and Sibay.

Tuition and other school fees for technical materials, tools and projects are waived for students who are Semirara residents and those from nearby islands. Its scholars from Mindanao are also provided with accommodation and meals for their entire stay.

From 8 million metric tons (MMT) of coal, SMPC increased its production output to 12 MMT in 2016. This year the company aims to produce 13 MMT to 14 MMT.

The company’s expansion is in line with the commissioning and commercial operations of new coal plants during the year and the scheduled capacity expansion of cement plants.

Source: Business Mirror