By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
Orange Sierra Leone (SL), the leading telecoms company in Sierra Leone, has donated food items to 100 quarantine facilities worth millions of Leone across the country through Chamber of commerce.
The Chamber of Commerce is an umbrella organisation for all business entities in Sierra Leone.
The donation came as a result of a proposal submitted to the telecoms company by the umbrella organisation owing to the deplorable conditions in quarantine facilities.
It is also a manifestation of Orange SL’s commitment to the development aspirations of Sierra Leone.
Head of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for Orange Sierra Leone, Desmond Spaine said the donation was part of their corporate social responsibility and also about giving back to society.
Mr Spaine also spoke about its continued partnership with the government since the country recorded the first case of COVID-19.
“We have been in partnership with government since the first case of Corona Virus was recorded in the country,” he said.
Spaine confirmed that the donation was a direct response to a call made by the Chamber of Commerce to support quarantine homes owing to the suffering encountered by inmates.
“This is a trying time for the country and we want to help those in quarantine homes from the impact of the virus,” he emphasised.
The CSR boss is highly hopeful that the quarantined people would be happy to receive the donated food items with appreciation.
Receiving the items on behalf of beneficiaries, a senior official in the Chamber of Commerce, James Koroma registered his profound appreciation to Orange SL.
Mr Koroma traced the outbreak of the Virus in December last year in China which, he said, later broke out in Sierra Leone in April this year.
He noted that the outbreak grossly affected social life and destroyed business and supply chains resulting into job losses.
The unemployment rate, no doubt, led to untold hardship in the country especially those in quarantine facilities.
Owing to the constraints in quarantine homes, Mr Koroma said, a proposal was prepared jointly by Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with other companies and submitted to Orange SL to seek assistance for quarantine homes.
“While preparing the proposal, we worked with companies and later submitted the proposal to the company for assistance for people in quarantine facilities,” Mr Koroma said.
After the proposal was submitted, he said, the telecoms company responded with the donation of the food items to the quarantine homes.
“The donation of the food is a stitch in time that will go a long way to ease the suffering of the quarantine homes,” he said.
The Proposal, Koroma said, was a direct product of a survey his organisation conducted on the economic life of Sierra Leone in the face of COVID-19 which they submitted to government.
He said his organisation had always been in partnership with Orange SL in thick and thin even in trying times.
The swift response by Orange SL to the call of the Chamber of Commerce, through the donation of the food items, is a manifestation of the strong and enduring bond between the two institutions.
Mr Koroma assured the company that the items would be distributed in line with the most credible standards.
The handing over of the donated items by the communication Officer of Orange SL formed part of the ceremony.
The donation of food items by Orange SL is an addition to the number of assistance packages the company has made to the government and people of Sierra Leone.
Almost two weeks back, the telecoms company offered five MILLA tanks of 10,000 litres each to Hill Station community which hosts the company.
Improvement of network services and communication, donation of personal protective equipment to communities, and public education campaigns about the virus has been part of the company’s contribution to return the country to normalcy.