Bahamas: State of Qatar donates $150K PPE to PHA

Bahamas: The State of Qatar made a vital donation to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas public with a donation of personal protective equipment (PPE) cost at $150,000 the previous day.

The contribution was tagged as an exhibit of Qatar’s profound gratefulness for those who serve on the frontline workers of the fight against the global COVID-19 pandemic and its commitment to assist those in shortage.

The Public Hospitals Authority’s (PHA) Supplies Management Agency took ownership of the PPE at the PHA’s warehouse on Bacardi Road on Wednesday, February 10, during a handover function.

Highlighting the long-held belief that victory in the fight against coronavirus rests with recognizing that human capital is the greatest resource we have, Bahamas Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and The State of Qatar Tony S Joudi said: “This pandemic has brought people closer to one another; it requires social distancing, but it has brought citizens closer to one another.

“One nation is asking for help from another land, and another country is providing this help, so we are appreciative to the State of Qatar and to the Emir himself, who has shown exceptional interest in the state of the nation and has had his nephew visit The Bahamas to show solidarity with the country.”

The PPE supplies bought from Bahamian medical supplies vendor Ports International will be allocated to frontline health workers across the public health system.

Joudi publicly acknowledged Permanent Secretary Carl Smith of the Ministry of Disaster Preparedness, Management, and Reconstruction to locally source the PPE supplies. Investing in Bahamian companies was a priority for the administration of Qatar.

The ambassador summed the donation by saying: “ So, we are here today in this PHA (Public Hospitals Authority) depot and we are looking at this product that came shipped from the US via a Bahamian company, Ports International, and we were able to get the consignment via the State of Qatar through their Embassy in Cuba.”

Smith noted that the consignment resulted from an association between the Ministry of Disaster Preparedness, Management and Reconstruction through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) and its partner, the PHA through the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC).

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