650 employees of ANSA McAL Limited were recognized for their contributions and commitment to the Group at the Long Service Awards 2006. The Gala Ceremony was held on Tuesday 14 December, 2006 in the Ballroom of the Trinidad Hilton.
Entitled Celebrating Our Strength-Celebrating Our People, this year’s event honoured employees who marked a milestone anniversary, beginning at 25 years.
The two longest-serving employees at this year’s event were Mr. Randolph A. de Silva (50 years service), former Corporate Secretary/Registrar now Group Properties Manager, Director of Trinidad Match Limited and Alstons Travel and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Alstons Pension Fund; and Mrs. Andrea Lee Sing (53 years service) of Standard Distributors.
Randolph de Silva,(l) receives his award (50 years) from Group Chairman A. Norman Sabga | Andrea Lee Sing (l) receives her award (53 years) from Group Chairman A. Norman Sabga |
“You… have built our organization and tonight we salute you.”
He also challenged the gathering to pass on the invaluable knowledge, the ethnical values, the moral responsibility and the strong work ethic that is being lost.
A. Norman Sabga– Chairman and Chief Executive also expressed his deep felt appreciation of the commitment of the awardees and acknowledged that the Group owed its success to their dedication and resourcefulness. He also announced:
“…that very soon we would be adding new benefits and improvements to this (pension) plan which is being evaluated, as we speak, by international actuaries and these new benefits would be announced shortly.”
Mr. Sabga described the pension plan as one of the top plans in the country, saying:
“…the company would continue to use its funds to ensure maximum benefits for employees and retirees in keeping with the laws of the country and best international practices..”
Chairman and Chief Executive A. Norman Sabga (r ), receives his award for 35 years of service from David B. Sabga (l), Group Deputy Chairman.
Regarding the awards function, Mr. Sabga remarked that the Group continues to demonstrate in tangible ways, the value it places on its human resource and that the Awards Ceremony was just one manifestation of this. He cited one example of the ANSA McAL Foundation, which had disbursed over $2Million in scholarships/bursaries to the children of employees over the past seven years.
He further reiterated that the ANSA McAL Group was strong, vibrant and progressive, saying the company owed its success to the dedication and resourcefulness of its entire staff, stating:
“It is our vision that ANSA McAL must be perceived and be experienced as the best place to work.”
Towards the end of the evening’s celebrations, David G. Inglefield- Group Marketing Director in his Vote of Thanks paid tribute to Dr. Anthony N. Sabga, Chairman Emeritus. He noted that Dr. Sabga had tenured almost 70 years of consistent endeavour, and:
“….His personal philosophy reflects the type of clarity and single-mindedness of the quintessential entrepreneur and has obviously stood the test of three score years and ten.”
In recognition of his phenomenal contribution to the Group’s success to date, the Group Chairman and Chief Executive made a special presentation to Dr. Anthony N. Sabga – his father and mentor. |
The evening’s Programme was hosted by Maria Superville-Neilson, Group PR Manager, George Gonzalez of the popular Mixed Nuts programme on 105FM and Errol Fabien, well known TV presenter and entertainer. One of the highlights of the programme was the official launch of the ANSA McAL Corporate Video, “The World of ANSA McAL”. Entertainment for the evening included performances by The ANSA McAL Choir, former Calypso Monarch Denyse Plummer, professional dancer Susan Mohip, the Carib Santa Rosa Parang Group, DaCosta and Friends and the Shiv Sangeet Band. The evening ended with a cocktail reception at the Hilton poolside.