The Caribbean Cement Company Limited (CCCL), based in Jamaica is the leading manufacturer of cement in the Caribbean. Its workforce includes 12 per cent women and the company has been seeing an increase in applications from women since 2016 with some 40% of recent hires being women. At present there is one woman on the Board and one among its senior management team with other critical, technical areas being staffed by women.
According to October 2018 figures reported by the government agency, the Statistical Institute of Jamaica, 18% of the Jamaican workforce in the mining and quarrying sector were women.
According to Peter Donkersloot, General Manager of Caribbean Cement Company: “The concept of an industry traditionally reserved for men is a concept that must be continually challenged. Every day the industry is more competitive and there needs to be balance in order to adapt faster and perform better.”
CCCL is part of the CEMEX group, a global leading building materials company. CEMEX is committed to supporting the Sustainable Development Goals and measures its contributions in all areas. CCCL’s corporate social responsibility programme in 2018 saw the completion of nine major projects in 2018 which supported the national development goals of: social cohesion, sustainable rural and urban development and quality education and align with three of the 16 United Nations’ global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in the areas of Good Health and Well Being; Quality Education and, Sustainable Cities and Communities.
Carib Cement’s CSR projects have contributed to the improvement of the welfare of women and girls in Jamaica. For example, among the projects have been concrete road rehabilitation in the rural communities of Manchester and St. Andrew. These interventions have: facilitated easier access for girls and boys to get to school; for women and men in agriculture to take their goods to market and for the elderly, pregnant women and other vulnerable persons to quickly exit the community when seeking urgent medical care.
Photo caption: Women from various sections of the Caribbean Cement company, including the quarry, laboratory, freight coordination, maintenance, supply chain management, healthcare, finance, HR and Corporate communications pose for a photo at the company’s Rockfort plant.