Basseterre: St. Kitts, March 10, 2021: The Ministry of Education along with the Department of Social Services each received a donation of 5000 disposable face masks from Island Purified Water Ltd on Tuesday, March 09. The handing over ceremony was held at the company’s headquarters in Newton Ground Village.
Speaking on behalf of Island Purified Water Ltd the Financial Manager, Mrs. Fernella Gumbs-Liburd, stated, “Island Purified Water has taken its civic responsibility very seriously. Donations and contributions have been given to several sporting disciplines, educational and religious institutions, and other activities and organizations”.
Mrs. Gumbs-Liburd noted that the donations are a way for the company to fulfill its mandate to “better and empower the lives of the citizens and residents of the Federation in whichever way they can.”
Accepting the donation on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Permanent Secretary, Mr. William Vincent Hodge, expressed gratitude for the donation. He thanked the managing team of Island Purified Water for continuously fulfilling their civic responsibility to society.
“I want to personally thank Mr and Mrs Powell for their long-standing contribution to society,” he said.
The permanent secretary appealed to the secondary school students and young citizens to continue wearing their face masks correctly and at all times, reminding them that failure to wear the masks correctly will incur a fine of $100 in accordance with the law.
“I’m sure that we are all aware that just a couple of days ago additional legislation was put in place to enforce the wearing of masks and to wear the masks properly…they should cover nose, mouth and chin” he stated.
Mr. Hodge said, “We are not out of the woods; the pandemic is still with us…we have to continue to protect ourselves. We want our students to continue to obey those three imperatives that we gave you at the beginning of the school year, (1) wear masks (2) wash hands and (3), watch your distance, which is to keep a good distance from large crowds.”
Mrs. Ann Wigley, Deputy Director in the Department of Social Services, expressed gratitude to Island Purified Water for its kind and timely donation on behalf of her Ministry and the elderly.
“I am so pleased to be here to accept these masks on behalf of our seniors, the older persons in our society, because they are our bedrock. The Ministry is happy to receive these,” she said. “I assure you that I will personally do my best to make sure our seniors receive them [the masks].”
She further appealed to the citizens to obey the Covid-19 protocols, adding “As our pandemic continues, we are also hastening to ask persons to obey the rules in order to keep our country safe.”
