In the heart of Lae City, Morobe Province, where Papua New Guinea’s big industries evolve around its economic belt, Gedion Kutuka’s journey began. Kutuka, a bright-eyed dark skinned boy from Siwai in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, walked into the career fair held in the Unitech campus.
His eyes caught the Chinese owned Ramu NiCo mine banner with the slogan “One Ramu NiCo, One Community”. The slogan captivated him. Kutuka’s lovely hometown of Buka has now healed from a war that left many scars and memories for his people and there were songs written about it. One of them was the popular number composed by the Barike band of East New Britain titled: Wan Kantri (One Country).
The lyrics Papua niu gini yumi mas sanap wan nation, wan kantri, wan people echoed through Kutuka’s mind. Ramu NiCo has a similar slogan to the Barike version of the song that has a deep meaning to his people and his lovely Buka hometown, so with fingers crossed, he walked straight to where the Ramu NiCo Human Resources Manager Jeffers Heptol was standing.
Mr Heptol was crowded with so many students at that time because he was letting out a bait into the fish pond where final year students from Unitech were ready to grab. Kutuka was one of them as he was in his fourth and final year of studying Mineral Process Engineering.
It was around September in 2023 when the career fair was held where Mr Heptol introduced the Ramu NiCo’s Graduate Development Scheme (GDS) program.
Kutuka applied for the program right away.
September, October and November flew fast that year and Kutuka left the Unitech campus which was home to him for the last four years. He returned to his beloved Ponoi village in Siwai Buka.
As the month of December creeped in, Kutuka started checking his mail box, emails and text messages. He had applied to work in other mineral mines and was hoping for one of those two companies to give a positive response.
Kutuka has spent K150 to pay for PMV from his home village to Buka town and was hoping to get positive feedback from the two mining companies he applied at.
The K150 he spent to get to town should not be wasted. Just as he had feared, both companies declined his applications for employment. He thought of the four long years his parents have struggled to pay for his tuition fees and then the K150 they gave for PMV fare.
It was too much sacrifice already and what will he tell them when he returns to the village.
Kutuka was lost in his thoughts when an email dropped into his mailbox.
The Ramu NiCo letterhead caught his eyes and he quickly scanned the subject headline. That was the magic Mr Heptol with the most wonderful news. Ramu NiCo has accepted Kutuka to undergo a two year rotational industrial training.
Just as other companies knocked him down, Ramu NiCo rescued the Siwai boy. Mum and dad’s K150 PMV fare did not waste at all and with a beaming dark face showing his ever whitening teeth, Kutuka went home and broke the good news to his parents and siblings which were his older sister and younger brother.
In February 2024, Kutuka travelled to Unitech for graduation. After graduation, he had no relatives to spend the remaining weeks with before he travelled to Madang to sign his contract for the Ramu NiCo GDS program so he spent nearly two months lodging with fellow students from AROB at Unitech. Going back home was expensive.
In June 2024, Kutuka travelled to Madang a town where many beautiful songs were sung about its beautiful coastline and loving and peaceful people but the most beautiful and lovely thing at that moment was Ramu NiCo and what offers it had for him.
In the next few days, Kutuka and 17 other new graduates from Unitech and two from Divine Word University formed a full 20 men squad under the GDS program, signed their contracts and moved to their respective locations to work.
Kutika and 7 others were sent to Ramu NiCo’s Basamuk refinery to work there.
The boy from Siwai was attached to the crushing plant and often stands with a two way radio controlling the operation of the crusher.
Kutuka realised his role at Ramu NiCo was more than just a job. It was a platform to make a real difference.
The company’s emphasis on innovation and ethical practices resonated deeply with his values.
Kutuka became part of a community dedicated to responsible mining, focusing on minimising environmental impact and enhancing the well-being of the surrounding communities.
“Chinese are very hard working people who want nothing else but to get the production done on time,” he said.
“Ramu NiCo has given me an opportunity that is rich in knowledge because I have actually applied the theories from Unitech into real working experience,” Kutuka added.
When reflecting back on how his journey with Ramu NiCo began from the time he was introduced to the Ramu NiCo’s GDS program at Unitech, Kutuka could only smile and said that Mr Heptol had the best bait for him and the rest is magic.
Kutuka now works for three months and usually goes home to Siwai in Buka during his two weeks breaks to visit his family in Ponoi village.
Crushing plant Supervisor Kelly(left) Lambu and Gideon Kutuka (right) at the crushing plant where they works