By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
Rokel Commercial Bank, One of the leading financial institutions in Sierra Leone has donated food and non-food items running into millions of Leones to the country’s Emergency Operations Centre (EOC).
The donation is part of RCB’s worthwhile contribution to the campaign against COVID-19, a virus that is badly affecting the country.
Rice, sugar, tomato paste, onions and maggie as well as infection prevention and control materials are among the donated items.
The food items are meant to feed patients in treatment facilities and the IPC materials are meant for use by health officials at the EOC and other treatment centres across the country.
Dr Walton Gilpin, RCB Managing Director handed over the items on behalf of his institution to the Minister of Health and Sanitation, Prof. Alpha Tejan Wurie.
While handing over the items, Dr Gilpin said he recognised the need to coordinate and collaborate in the campaign against COVID-19.
“We have an enemy that is invisible, a plague that is eating into our society, both human resources and economy of the country,” he said.
The items, according to Dr Gilpin would not only help the medical staff, but would help those in isolation and quarantine facilities.
The RCB Managing Director also noted that they donated the items because they wanted to continuously enhance government’s capacity to restore the country to normalcy.
Receiving the items, Prof. Wurie commended RCB for the donation of the food items to the EOC and stressed the importance of nutrition in the treatment of patients.
“Aside from medical issues and treatment of Corona Virus patients, feeding is their major gap. If they are to deal with immunisation as a key factor for the patients, food must reflect on the patients’ level of immunity to develop,” the Health Minister says.
Dr Wurie further spoke about the need for unity and cooperation in the fight against the virus.
“The rapid community transmission of the virus has shown that it is not a fight for government alone, but for every citizen. The donation by Rokel Commercial Bank comes at a time the Health Ministry and the Emergency Operations Centre needed the items,” Minister Wurie stressed.
The Health Minister also said his ministry’s strategy in quarantining and testing of primary Corona Virus contacts is the reason for high rate of confirmed cases.
In the fight against the virus, the Minister went on, the EOC operational structure is vital for them to have the discipline to handle the items adding that the National Response Team is one that blends the operations that bring the discipline.
Apart from the donations made by RCB since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Sierra Leone, it introduced a 2527 toll-free hotline to ease business enquiries.
The initiative placed RCB in an excellent position in terms of customer care service among the over 13 commercial banks countrywide.
With use of the toll-free line, customers can make enquiries about their bank accounts wherever they are without going to any of the RCB branches.
Thus, the RCB toll-free line initiative has attracted praises from its clientele.
Since Sierra Leone is not yet out of the woods in the COVID-19 struggle, RCB continues to strictly observe measures pronounced by government to defeat the virus.
The Rokel Bank has also put in place an enduring plan known as the ‘Rokel COVID Contingency Plan’ which it employs to support government in the COVID-19 campaign.