On Thursday 23rd May 2019, as it commemorated Heineken Global Procurement Volunteers’ Day, the country’s leading beverage producer, Sierra Leone Brewery Limited (SLBL) and volunteers of the Wellington community in the eastern part of the capital, Freetown, embarked on a community cleaning exercise around the Wellington Industrial Estate and its environs.
Speaking during the event, Theresa Lymon, Procurement Officer of SLBL, said they decided to commemorate the Heineken Global Procurement Volunteers day by undertaking community cleaning exercise as a way of giving back to society.
“We all know the importance of hygiene in a vulnerable country like Sierra Leone”, she stated. She further maintained that the Brewery, during the Ebola and other major disasters that hit the country, contributed to government recovery efforts as part of its contribution to affected communities.
Zorah Anthony, Human Resource Manager, said the SLBL’s corporate social responsibility in collaboration with Heineken Africa Foundation has contributed over Le2.5 billion towards sports, provision of water and sanitation for various communities both in the city and outside Freetown; built health care centers and engaged in several community development schemes in the last three years. It supported the building of water wells and toilets in constituencies 097 and 098 and through the HAF, they are supporting one hospital at Yele in Tonkolili District and another one at Masanga (both in the north of Sierra Leone).
This year, she went on, the company has prioritised cleaning as it is a major way of preventing disease and maintaining the health of the nation.
Corporate Relations Manager, Albert Ojo Collier, said that the decision to embark on this cleaning exercise as they commemorate the Heineken Global Procurement Volunteers Day is in line with the Brewery’s commitment to national cleaning. He stated that it is a joint venture between the SLBL volunteers and the Wellington Community volunteers, while working with the two councillors in the constituency.
The SLBL offered financial and logistical support to the team of volunteers so as to facilitate a smooth exercise.
Ojo Collier added that they want to discourage the depositing of plastic bags and other waste materials on the streets and drainages. “We are now in the rainy season, so we need to clean the environment and avoid further distress and air borne diseases like cholera and other threats to health.”
Councillor Lucky Mansaray of ward 406 said that he is not surprised at what the SLBL has done. “My ward just emerged as winner of the Freetown City Council’s ‘cleanest zone competition’ and I succeeded because Brewery helped me a lot. They have just provided us with a solar water well that provides safe drinking water for the community. This partnership will benefit the two parties because we will also help them to operate in a clean and safer environment,” he said.
