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Omela Ali a natural attraction to business. So when the CEO of the family-owned mining company Mineral Mines of Trinidad Limited decided to enter that field of work, the transition took a lot of courage but it was relatively easy.
“Being involved in conventional business for over 25 years, and being in the construction sector, I decided I was ready for a career change, and that I will take up the biggest challenge of my life and move on.”
She believes many of the challenges and opposition she had encountered over the years as a woman in business prepared her for the resistance and uphill battles that she has faced since she entered this male-dominated industry.
Coming from humble beginnings, Ali said she is proud of her accomplishments. She is neither a second-generation business person, nor is she a graduate from any of the local prestigious institutions. She is, in fact, a graduate of the Junior and Senior Secondary school system, having starting her secondary school education at the then Curepe Junior Secondary School,
and takes every opportunity to remind students who may not come from ideal situations to understand that their background and the school they attended should not be barriers to what they can achieve in life.
“People always underestimate those schools, but I believe its all about application, not just about the schools.”
She is especially interested in getting that message across to young women who are inclined to place limitations on themselves, and encourages them to jump in and follow the trail they want to.
[caption id="attachment_1005378" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Omela Ali's days are long because work in the quarries begins early. - Angelo Marcelle[/caption]
Her work in the field of quarrying and mining has also brought her a level of international recognition. She has been identified as the national ambassador and focal point for the Delve Exchange Programme – an initiative funded by the United Nations and a collaboration among the University of Queensland and the Association of Women in Mining, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the African, Caribbean, Pacific (ACP)-EU Development Minerals Programme. It is intended to facilitate information sharing and knowledge exchange among women in mining and quarrying throughout the ACP nations. Ali said even though the women from the African and Pacific regions are more gold and gemstone miners, they are still able to benefit mutually from each other’s experiences.
“While the operations are not sand and gravel, they are similar, also the lack of acceptance in a male-dominated industry is another challenge that we have in common.”
The Delve Exchange Programme hosts an annual conference to bring these female pioneers together. The first conference was scheduled to be held in Nairobi, Kenya in 2022, but due to challenges encountered by the Trinidad and Tobago chapter, Ali was unable to attend. The message driving the forum is a powerful one – women miners helping women miners. Through this model, members are able to assist each other in averting crises and identifying challenges within their industry.
Asked about her inspiration for getting into the quarrying industry, she said it certainly wasn’t a case where she just woke up one morning and decided that she wanted to be a miner. On the contrary, her history of involvement in what she describes as conventional business over the last 30 years may have indirectly led her to her current destination in the sand pits of Sangre Grande. Immediately preceding her involvement in quarrying, she was involved in the construction sector. In contemplating this career change, she understood that it would present her with the greatest challenge she had experienced so far. Five years later, she has managed to navigate her way through the industry.
Her days are long because work in the quarries begins early, but she is up to the challenge.
“Quarry business is a tough business, it’s tough and stressful, and as the CEO I have to balance between the administrative side and the operational side, dealing with orders and customers, conducting site visits, ensuring that everything is done according to the correct timelines.”
Then, based on the unpredictable nature of the business, due to the fact that this is an industry which is so dependent on nature, circumstances can change rapidly. Plans have to be revisited at short notice depending on what is encountered.
“We are dealing with the soil, we are dealing with different environmental factors, weather patterns, people, so 99 per cent of the time a challenge of some kind is likely to come up,” she said.
[caption id="attachment_1005377" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Omela Ali is the national ambassador and focal point for the Delve Exchange Programme – an initiative funded by the United Nations. - Angelo Marcelle[/caption]
She said she made the decision to enter the sector, fully aware of all the challenges and resistance she was likely to meet. But, she was determined to break the stereotype that subscribed to the notion that quarrying was not for women.
With the support of her family, she did the necessary background work to determine what was required, secured the required funding, and got started. She used the challenges as stepping stones to grow. She concedes that there is a steep learning curve; and certainly a different direction from her moorings in the agro-chemical industry, followed by a few years in the real estate sector, which then led her into construction, where she was actively involved in building houses.
Her background in agriculture has made her particularly mindful that there is a corporate responsibility to engage in soil rehabilitation – a fundamental part of operating optimally in the community and being environmentally responsible. This, she said, affords her the advantage of knowing exactly how to go about rehabilitating quarried lands.
[caption id="attachment_1005376" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Omela Ali wants young women who are inclined to place limitations on themselves to follow the trail they want to. - Angelo Marcelle[/caption]
She said there are many industries with gender bias that results in women not being taken seriously and being excluded from many opportunities. But, she she believes women who are strong and resilient by nature, have the best chance of succeeding. She takes pride in having paved the way for other women to enter the extracting sector. She encourages women to step out of their comfort zones and reminded them, “…that women have strength to succeed; and in my case, there was no baton passed to me, I developed this business through strength, with the support of my family, and through hard work and perseverance.”
And, as a wife and mother of two adult children, she said her life is proof that it is entirely possible to strike that balance which affords women the ability to successfully manage a business while also having a happy and rewarding family life.
 
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