DOUGLAS Orane, the chairman and CEO of GraceKennedy, in a show of support for the new initiative to reduce crime, yesterday announced that the company will donate $5 million – the equivalent of approximately half day’s profit of the Group’s operations – to a new private sector fund established to reduce crime.

This fund was announced yesterday by Bev Lopez, president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, at a rally in New Kingston following the lockdown of businesses.

“We are passionate about making sure that our actions have meaningful results, and this donation will have an impact on the ability of our society to have a decisive response to the surge in crime,” Orane said.

GraceKennedy did not join the call to close its businesses yesterday afternoon, but the company said it is in full support of the PSOJ’s campaign to make crime an issue for immediate national response.

“We are in agreement with the PSOJ that crime is destroying the fabric of our lives,” said Orane “We pledge to do tangible things to stop this social decay in its tracks.”

He said that an example of how the donation to the new fund will be used is the improvement in forensic analysis by the police in solving crimes.

“We stand with every citizen of this country who believes that evil and criminality are not welcome here. Enough is enough. We need to be resolute in changing the way we behave to each other if we want our children to have normal peaceful lives, and if we want our nation to prosper,” said Orane.