HCMC – Thousands of medical products and food items were given to the border guard forces in the Central Highlands provinces of Gia Lai and Kon Tum on September 11 as part of the “Saigon Times – Great Circle” program, aiming to assist their efforts to protect the national border and prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Under the program organized by the Saigon Times Group, 20,000 face masks, 400 bottles of hand sanitizer, and 200 boxes of Bibica cake were donated to the border guard forces of Gia Lai.
Addressing a ceremony to donate the essential anti-pandemic products, Colonel Nguyen Van Nghi from the Gia Lai Border Guard said that the province has a 90-kilometer-long border. Currently, some 300 soldiers have been working day and night at 34 checkpoints to protect the nation’s sovereignty as well as to fight against the novel coronavirus.
In the afternoon the same day, the Saigon Times Group granted 10,000 face masks, 400 hand sanitizers and 50 boxes of noodles to the border guard forces in Kon Tum Province.
The province has a 292,5-kilometer-long borderline with Cambodia and Laos, the longest in the Central Highlands. Since early 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, more than 400 soldiers have been working at 66 fixed and mobile checkpoints to prevent the outbreak of the pandemic as well as illegal immigration, according to Colonel Duong The Vo, leader of the Border Guard of the province.
A Lanh, a soldier at a checkpoint, said he has served at the checkpoint for two months since the second wave of Covid-19 broke out and has not visited home since then.
“Despite many difficulties and inconveniences here, we are very determined to protect the border and prevent illegal immigration, keeping the country safe from Covid-19 risks,” he said.
The Central Highlands was the last destination of the “Saigon Times – Great Circle” program’s third phase titled “Together we win Covid-19”. This followed the success of the program’s first phase that sought to help poverty-stricken people overcome the hardships caused by the pandemic earlier this year and the second phase titled “Together with Vietnam’s Tourism.”
The third phase kicked off from mid-August and focused on sharing the difficulties of those who are at the frontline in the fight against Covid-19 along with the support of the business community and other donors.
The program was sponsored and supported by Bibica Corporation, LIX Detergent JSC, Uniben JSC, Indochina Capital, Kim Phat Production Trade Technique Company, Thanh Cong Motor Vietnam JSC and An Cuong Wood-Working Manufacturing Company.
Tran Huy Hoang, communications and branding director of Thanh Cong Motor Vietnam JSC, one of the enterprises giving their helping hand to the program, said that TC Motor takes pride in joining the program to provide support to the border guard forces in the Central Highlands provinces of Daklak, Gia Lai, and Kon Tum to combat the pandemic.
The donation is one of various activities that TC Motor has done to pay back to the community and to help build a better society, aside from its business and manufacturing activities, Hoang added.
Dau Dinh Hai, a representative from Bibica Corporation in the region, said that this is Bibica’s pleasure to join hands with the Saigon Times Group to offer essential anti-pandemic items to soldiers who take turns to be on duty around the clock at border gates and border areas.
By Hong Ngan – Minh Tuan
