Some 23 newly recruited operators of the National Oil Refining Company, SONARA, have been entreated to live up to expectation, and contribute their quota in the company’s expansion programme.

The appeal was echoed by the representative of the General Manager, Mrs Evelyn Martins, as she presided at a ceremony to award certificates to the operators, after completing a training to abreast them with the dynamics of the job, on September 12.

Mrs. Martins, after congratulating the laureates, told them that the certificate is not an end in itself, but it is aimedto make them more determined to work, as they still have a long way to go before they can be classified as experts.

“Thus you have to proof your technical competence on the ground, and portray an exemplary behaviour, conforming to the norms of SONARA, in upholding all things good” she told them.

She reminded them to take note of the fact that SONARA counts on them to contribute in consolidating its high performance level and maintain its position as leader in Africa, and there is much hope on them as they are at the forefront of the refinery’s expansion programme, thus she called on them to be very ethical in all their dealings.

The GM’s representative also expressed gratitude to all those who contributed to the success of the training, especially the IFP (Institute Francais de Petrole), their international partners and main trainers, the Human Resource Departmentand the local trainers, for giving the trainees the required knowledge for the safety of the refinery.

She emphasised that SONARA budgets more than FCFA500million yearly to train workers, and that the BO (BREVET OPERATEUR) programme takes close to FCFA 91million, with close to FCFA4million for each trainee, thus, they should put in their best and upgrade the standard and ethics of the enterprise.

The training which involved 23 new recruits, took place at the refinery and lasted for up to a year, and was divided into two parts; theoretical and practical, involving modules like the refining process, rotating, fixed and thermal equipment, monitoring parameters etc.

Talking on the essence of the training, one of the trainers, Lysinge Albert, Chief of Service in charge of Production explained to The Sun that “The refinery is a zone where we deal with hydrocarbons which is highly inflammable and in the refining process of hydrocarbons, we function with temperatures of about 30degrees-about 1000 degrees centigrade, so in order to work in this milieu- monitoring equipment and carrying out different manoeuvres in the units, this training is very necessary, as it gives them the technical background and also the safety and the environmental aspects of the different manoeuvres that they have to carryout in the different units”.

“The training was very much practical, and I have actually been very enriched with all that I have acquired”, one of the trainees, Beckechen Ojong Marvin also told The Sun.

The training, The Sun gathered, is also adapted to the future needs of the extension project of the refinery, as in the course of it, the trainees were enlightened on how to operate some equipmentwhich will be used in the refinery in the future.

The ceremony had as highlights the award of certificates to the trainees and also to the three trainers who facilitated the training, and also words of encouragement from the Human Resource Director, Bouba Mohammadou and an IFP representative, Bertrand Mouchel.

The job of an operator it should be noted involves monitoring equipment, sampling hydrocarbons and taking into consideration unexpected dysfunctions among other things.