Omnibus association gets sanitiser donation to boost operators’ supplies | 10 July 2020

Mr D’Offay (second right) and Mr Elizabeth shake hands during the presentation ceremony in the presence of Messrs Pothin and Hollanda

With sanitisers being mandatory onboard local omnibuses, the Seychelles Association of Omnibus Operators has received a donation of sanitisers as part of a partnership agreement to boost its existing supplies.

A team from the Seychelles Association of Omnibus Operators (SAO) visited the Trois Frères Distillery late last week, in order to buy sanitisers for its members and operators. And in the spirit of promoting good partnership, the Trois Frères Distillery company – who already has a working partnership with the SAO – matched the number of sanitisers the SAO purchased from their company.

SAO chairman Mervin Elizabeth, accompanied by vice-chairman Davis Pothin and secretary Ivan Hollanda, obtained the money through a donation from one of the members – Premium Transport Company – and were ready to purchase three cases of sanitisers. And when Trois Frères Distillery owner Richard D’Offay matched the purchase, the SAO team happily left with six cases in total.

Mr Elizabeth said the association aims to not only meet the criteria and guidelines set by the department of health in regards to transportation, but to also surpass them where possible.

“Although the department of health has put in place their rules on how we should operate, we have also set our own list of guidelines for our operators to further complement the department’s, which we continuously enforce through strict monitoring,” he said.

“We will make sure that the sanitisers are distributed evenly among our operators, according to the number of buses they own. We will carry out our own spot checks to ensure that operators have sanitisers on board their buses at all times, and we have been assured by the Trois Frères Distillery that should we need more, their doors are always open for us.”

Mr D’Offay said the company’s gesture is a show of support to the local omnibus association, which he thinks is doing a great job helping the local students’ population commute to and from school, among its other duties.

“We are happy to be able to assist the SAO in fulfilling its duties, and by providing it with sanitisers, we are also doing our part to as much as possible promote a safer (and sanitised) work environment,” he said.

The SAO has been contracted by the Seychelles government since May 18, 2020 to transport post-secondary students to and from their respective institutions from Monday to Friday, with the Seychelles Public Transport Corporation (SPTC) unable to meet the local demand due to social distancing seating on board its buses.

With around 100 private omnibuses making the morning and afternoon trips, having sanitisers on board buses is one of the guidelines from the department of health that operators have to follow.

Contributed