THE Muslim Youth Organization (MYO) and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) have donated $4 million worth of food items to St. Vincent and the Grenadines in an effort to lend support in wake of the recent La Soufrière volcano eruption.
The extensive donation includes 1000 packs of 1kg flour; 1000 packs of 2kg rice; 800 packs of 2kg sugar; 2700 packs of chowmein; corn flakes; mixed vegetables; face masks; Dettol soaps and hand sanitiser.

Member of the MYO, Nazar Mohamed, noted that coming together and lending support is the only way to get through a tragedy, and this fuelled the organisation’s drive to lend support to the government’s initiative of sending donations to St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

“From the moment I saw it, I called up the President of MYO and I said we have to do something, get up some businessmen and let’s make a tangible donation to the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. This is a humanitarian effort, this has nothing to do with nothing else other than having love and compassion for our brothers and sisters who have been plagued by this terrible situation and I call on corporate Guyana to assist in this effort,” Mohamed said.

He further reminded that currently Muslims across the world are observing the holy month of Ramadan and during this time, charity is heightened in the Islamic community. He noted that even as the MYO continues to work to secure donations, another container of rice is already scheduled to be sent to St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig, Director-General (DG) of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), thanked the GCCI for their innovation to collaborate with the MYO to secure additional donations.

“I took a look at the donation here and I must say that it is in keeping with the needs of the people of St Vincent; we have a number of non-perishable food items and we also have protective masks, sanitisers and those are items that are most needed at this time, and I’m happy that the business community is moving in this direction using the list of needs of the islands and making sure those needs are catered to,” the CDC Director-General said.

He noted that the business community continues to be a major supporter of the government’s humanitarian relief efforts to its sister state. Last Wednesday, Local auto parts importer and dealer, Japarts, donated $1.1M in relief items to St. Vincent.

On Thursday last, a twenty-foot container filled with cases of water left on a Tropical Shipping vessel; the water supplies were donated by Banks DIH Ltd, and supplement the emergency supplies sent by Guyana to St. Vincent on Tuesday last aboard the ‘Miss Meena’ vessel.