Tutong marine processing facility on hiring spree

THE marine processing plant located in Tutong is in the process of filling up vacancies to ensure that plant operations would run smoothly once they start.

The plant, which is expected to start running at the end of this quarter, has to fill up between 300 and 400 jobs.

Asked about whether the company plans to hire out all the jobs to locals, Richard Chuang (pictured), general manager of Semaun Marine Resources and Golden Corporation Sdn Bhd partners in the Marine Processing Plant said that it was not possible to have a fully local workforce yet.

"Our operations go all the way up till the night time, and from our experience we have found it difficult to get locals who are interested in working manual labour at night," he said, adding that the facility would aim to give at least 50 per cent of the jobs to locals.

Chuang added that the company would be turning to the expat community to fill out the rest of the job vacancies.

Workers would undergo training for two weeks to one month prior to the opening of the job, he added.

"We are giving them our own training so we are looking for people who are interested to learn a new set skill," he said.

One of the challenges that Chuang said he would be facing is whether local employees will leave the company after a short time.

"We have experienced this before in our shrimp processing plant, but this is something that we have to deal with, and we still want to encourage more locals to gain experience in this plant with us," he said.

He added that due to the plant operations and the technology and machinery used in the facility, training would be given by supervisors who are experienced.

"This plant is a very large scale plant and the first and largest of its kind in Brunei so we have to make sure training is done properly," he said.

Chuang revealed that the facility has enlisted the help of the Brunei Industrial Development Body (Bina) to help get the word out about sending in job applications.

"We are also going around the neighbouring kampungs to let them know that our plant will be opening up and if they are interested, they can send in their job application to our plant," said Chuang.

"Once the plant is fully operational, the skilled workers who gain experience from the centre will be in demand, indirectly, through related supporting business activities," said Chuang.

Chuang explained that the centre is fully supported by the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources (MIPR), the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB), the Department of Fisheries and Semaun Holdings Sdn Bhd.

"This centre will contribute immensely to the growth of the marine business in Brunei and will bring export of fisheries products to new height, it will also be the first centre of its kind in Brunei equipped with state-of-the-art technology and facilities."

Apart from fish processing, the plant will also integrate its blue shrimp processing line from one facility.

Semaun Marine Resources has already successfully created an export market for Brunei's blue shrimp, which is famous in Taiwan and Japan due to its 'sashimi standard'.

The shrimp is currently being exported to China, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

"There is a large demand for all the products that we are exporting to the world, the only problem is that we do not have enough capacity to meet the global demands," Chuang was quoted as saying in a recent report.

The Brunei Times