The country’s leading supplier of building materials, general hardware, steel, and plumbing materials, Tongs Corporation has donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to the National Referral Hospital worth around SBD$50,000, last Thursday.
In a statement, the Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS) is thankful for the assistance of 3000 protective face- masks, 2,400 60ML hand sanitizer, and 30 pieces of the safety face shield.
Executive Director of Tongs Corporation Mr. Kenny Tong explained that “Tongs Corporation is very pleased to be providing this support as they fight against COVID-19 is everyone’s business including businesses within the private sector and not the government alone nor the Ministry of Health.”
He added, “The donation is also a reaffirmation of our commitment towards national efforts against COVID-19 global pandemic and we hope that the items will go a long way to protect our frontline workers and support staff in the discharge of their important duties in response to COVID-19”. “Also is our way of saying thank you to all frontline workers for keeping us safe from covid-19 and we want to encourage you to keep up the good”.
In receiving the PPEs, MHMS Permanent Secretary Mrs. Pauline McNeil highlighted that PPEs are very crucial towards the work of COVID-19 frontline workers from both the ministry of health and other relevant government ministries, agencies, and implementing partners.
“Safety of our workers when deployed for COVID-19 is of utmost importance however with high global demands for PPEs, due to the global spread of the pandemic, it is sometimes difficult to procure and ship the items over”,
“As such the Ministry is highly appreciative of the donation made today by Tongs Corporation that will not only guarantee the safety of our COVID-19 frontline responders but also assist the ministry in its efforts to ensure that we have enough of the PPEs across the country”, stated Mrs. McNeil.
This is the second time Tongs has donated to the MHMS and the frontline workers. The first donation was of the same PPE materials made last July. Since the fight against covid-19 started, Tongs also provided a warehouse free of charge to the ministry to help with the storage of relevant PPE materials and equipment. Tongs also confirmed that the warehouse will be available to the ministry as long as is needed.
The Health Permanent Secretary also acknowledged all private sector firms who have come forward to support health efforts against COVID-19 stating that the support has been overwhelming and we continue to look forward to continued support and cooperation between health and the private sector.
