Gacem Ltd last week donated 500 bags of cement to the Management Development Institute (MDI) through the Voice of the Youth, a movement established by social change factory, an international organisation working with youths around Africa. The cement donated to MDI will be used to construct a conventional community library in Jarra Soma.
In a separate event, the company also extended support to St Joseph’s and Marina International schools. Both institutions had requested support from Gacem.
The donation, according to the management of Gacem, is part of another important role the company plays in society.
“We make a difference by helping people from the profit we make for them to thrive and prosper. We recognise that the sustainable growth of our business depends on our unwavering commitment to our corporate social responsibility,” Gacem sales and marketing manager Muhammed Lamin Darboe told The Standard.
He said the sound partnerships the company builds with its customers and local communities serve as great motivation for them to help in the building of the country’s institutions.
“Over the years, Gacem has supported different government institutions and local communities in our drive to contribute in nation building,” Darboe said. Corporate social responsibility, Darboe added, “is therefore an integral part of our everyday work”.
“Apart from our social corporate responsibility, we are also committed to ensuring that we continue to deliver the best service to our customers at all times. Our approach to service delivery is wide-ranging and focuses on initiatives that make a mark in the upliftment and betterment of our people and the communities we serve,” he said.
He said Gacem’s main focus is development and support of the youth, mainly through supporting education, healthcare and other initiatives. “In the past years, we have made a demonstrable difference in the lives of many Gambians. We are committed to continue impacting lives at every giving opportunity,” Darboe said. “The quantity doesn’t matter but what it will bring about. There can never be any meaningful development without education. It is therefore the duty of everyone to play his/her part in ensuring that quality education is achieved in this country,” Darboe said.
“We take solace in the knowledge that by giving the premium quality cement for infrastructural development, we are contributing in our own way to alleviate some of the hardship experienced in the health and education sectors of the country,” Darboe said.
He appealed to beneficiaries to use the donated cement judiciously.
Darboe informed that the foundation is committed to providing more support especially to institutions mostly found in deprived/remote areas of the country “which makes Gacem a Corporate Entity that stands tall in the socio-economic development of the country”.
“We will continue to target education and health infrastructure in these deprived areas to support the Government’s developmental agenda,” he noted. He then assured the organisation of his fullest support at all times.
He said Gacem have demonstrated their commitment to the maintenance of peace and security.
Ousainu Jawara, a representative of the Voice of the Youth, thanked Gacem for reaching out to his organisation.
He said the Voice of the Youth is a competition organised between University of The Gambia, Gambia College, Gambia Technical Training Institute, International Open University and management development institute.
“We are tasked to find out a societal problem and a solution by implementing it in a chosen community. So the MDI team finds out that quality education in LRR is a problem and is working on establishing a conventional community library in Jarra Soma and have a campaign on enrollment of early childhood in school,” he said.
He noted that the presentation would go a long way towards alleviating some of the constraints that students faced in the area.
The Gacem, known as Bambo, has been part of the Italian based Italcementi Group since 1993 and is the sole importer. Italcementi is the world’s 5th largest cement producer and has 1 flat terminal at Banjul ports.
The company has in the past supported the country’s security forces. In 2010 they presented 100 bags of cement to the Gambia Immigration Department as part of their contributions towards the construction of Omorto Immigration Post in the Western Region.
