No Master’s Degree | Petrojam manager says she is still qualified

Amid controversy over whether she is qualified to earn just over $13 million annually as Human Resource Manager at Petrojam, Yolande Ramharrack said she met the requirements for the job and has an edge over some of her predecessors at the state-owned oil refinery.

Her immediate predecessor Roselee Scott-Heron, who holds a Master’s degree, earned $9.82 million at the time she was fired under contentious circumstances last December.

Ramharrack, whose highest degree is a Bachelor’s, is earning millions more than her predecessor who has a Master’s.

When she appeared before parliament’s Public Administrations and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) today (July 4) Ramharrack tried to justify her pay, adding that she is pursuing her Master’s degree.

“The job description does indicate that the qualification is a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) or equivalent qualifications and experience. I do have a graduate certification and I am at least more than half-way to earning my MBA currently,” she told the PAAC.

Chairman of the PAAC Dr Wykeham McNeill, however, insisted that Ramharrack does not yet have a ‘MBA or equivalent qualifications’.

He questioned if the requirements for the job were lowered to facilitate Ramharrack.

Before Ramharrack could respond, Acting General Manager at Petrojam Telroy Morgan intervened and suggested that the matter be otherwise handled.

Human Resource Manager at Petrojam, Yolande Ramharrack. Photo Credit:

Meanwhile, Ramharrack earlier explained that the job requirements not only comprise academic qualifications.

“They (recruiters at Petrojam) asked about some specific competences, which were also considered due to the fact that the last two Human Resource persons did not realize certain objective as it related to the business. Those are the considerations that formed the hiring…” she explained.

“A hiring decision does in fact not only include qualifications and experience. It’s also impinged on competences… The hiring decision for the position included someone who would be an employee champion, would possess business acumen [and] culture, and be a strategic positioner – all of those that I did demonstrate the ability to execute on,” added Ramharrack.

By Horace Mills

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