Let us be resilient during this pandemic – O&L
Ohlthaver & List (O&L) Group issued a statement last week, in light of their position regarding COVID-19.
Wessie van der Westhuizen, Chief Executive of the Group said the health and safety of their employees, customers and stakeholders are paramount to them.
“While we understand that the outbreak of COVID-19 has brought a great deal of uncertainty and fear amongst people, it is equally important we remain calm,” he emphasised.
According to Van der Westhuizen they are working around the clock to ensure that they have measures in place to support the health and safety of everyone.
“This includes our Group Wellness support, subsidiary specific Business Continuity Plans that have been developed specifically to ensure that the business can respond sufficiently to any disruptions, the ongoing flu vaccination campaign, continuous education and awareness through various communication initiatives, communication and travel guidelines, hand sanitising stations at prominent areas at operating company work places for staff and consumers as well as the formation of our COVID-19 Response Team amongst others,” he added.
Van der Westhuizen commended the efforts of Government in address the crisis by strengthening Namibia’s preparedness and response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are by all means not immune to the impact of this crisis, our tourism industry has felt and continues to feel the punch and equally so has the retail sector, in our case, Pick n Pay, is also faced with extreme challenges as we are a country depended on imports,” he highlighted.
Despite the challenges they face Van der Westhuizen expressed his optimism that all is not in vain. “Perspective is the balance in the storm, now, more than ever, it is imperative that we stand together as a nation and our greatest weapon is to prioritise our personal hygiene and health so that we are all strong enough to conquer this in order to look after ourselves and each other,” he concluded.
The Group and its subsidiaries have either postponed or cancelled all scheduled large meeting and events in response to the Head of State’s ban on large gatherings for at least 30 days.
