Fifteen-year-old NPA College student, Vikilyn Tabaui (better known as ‘Vicky’), completed five days of work experience at BP Bamaga late last year.

Her college youth support worker contacted BEL to arrange the one-week program after Vicky expressed an interest in retail and hospitality.

After completing the hands-on work experience, Vicky said she was surprised by how much she enjoyed her time with the team at BP Bamaga.

She was taken through a general induction, which included an introduction to food handling and safe preparation of food. She also learned about the day-to-day retail practices of the service station, such as stock presentation, money handling, and customer service.

According to Store Manager, Bewan Idai, the team at BP Bamaga is always keen to take on work experience students.

“BP Bamaga has a tight-knit, hardworking team that enjoys the opportunity to deliver training like this to young people in the NPA,” he said.

Vicky (left) with Kymaya Malamoo (right)

BP Bamaga will soon install a new freezer, ensuring better reliability of stock and an increased range of products to meet the growing customer demand.

This extra freezer space will enable the service station to have extra ice bags on hand, the introduction of a more comprehensive café menu and the ability to store enough stock on site.

Store Manager, Bewan Idai, said, “Not only will we increase customer satisfaction, but the extra freezer space will go a long way towards improving staff productivity as they won’t need to spend time rearranging everything to fit.”

One challenge Bamaga BP has faced is a shortage of ice bags, especially on hot days in holiday periods.

“Now our customers won’t have to have warm drinks when they travel out of town or spend a day out on the water,” Mr Idai said.

Bamaga Enterprises continues to be stifled in its attempts to expand the Bamaga BP Service Station and provide more services for the community.

Council refuses to finalise a draft lease so that Native Title can be negotiated, meaning these plans are indefinitely on hold.

This includes an extension so the café/kitchen and retail floor area can be expanded and to increase the storage area. This would enable the service station to serve fresher and healthier food via a commercial kitchen, and provide more product lines for customers.

BEL would also like to construct a car/boat wash at the BP, which is a much-needed facility for both locals and tourists.

The Bamaga Enterprises team surprised Bewan Idai with a cake in October 2019 to celebrate his 10-year anniversary with the organisation.

BEL Chairperson, Robert Poi Poi, said Bewan had demonstrated good leadership skills and a strong work ethic over the years.

“We are proud to not only be developing local talent, but also to see them become mentors for the next generation in our community seeking to grow into senior management positions,” said Mr Poi Poi.

BEL is the largest private sector employer in the Northern Peninsula Area and will continue its strong commitment to developing the local workforce.

www.bamagabp.com.au