FROME, Westmoreland – The Pan Caribbean Sugar Company Limited, last Friday donated three metric tonnes of sugar valued at roughly $500,000 to the Jamaica Red Cross, for distribution to the vulnerable and elderly across the island.

Director of the Westmoreland branch of the Jamaica Red Cross Maceo Sibbles, in accepting the gift, noted that the organisation collaborates with various groups, as it seeks to serve the nation.

“Everything we do in the parish is done with the cooperation of all our partners – the ministry of labour and social security, the parish council and the response groups. So we work with everybody. This allows the Red Cross to be more aware of those who are in need of the organisation’s assistance,” he told the gathering.

The commodity will be added to care products being prepared for distribution in the wake of COVID-19, which has resulted in a downturn in the economy.

Pan-Caribbean Sugar Company Limited CEO Chaoy Liu, said since the company began operation in Jamaica in August 2011, it has made significant contribution to the local economy.

“We have boosted jobs by employing a large number of local Jamaican employees, driven the development of related industries and made our contributions to local economies, while actively assuming social responsibilities through various types of assistances within our reach to surrounding communities, schools and police stations,” she noted.

Additionally, she expressed the need to do more for the community, stressing that COVID-19 has become a pandemic.

“We saw that the Jamaican government had adopted a series of precautionary measures to control its spreading. Therefore, as an enterprise, we, Pan Caribbean Sugar Company, although suffering from financial constraints, have also joined the action of fighting against the disease, responding to the Jamaican government with our humble means,” she argued.