-As They Give Rice, Red Oil, Others to Prison Facilities in Liberia
Justice Minister Frank Musah Dean has lavished praises on members of the Indian Business Chamber (IBC) in Liberia for their humanitarian gesture to prison facilities in Liberia.
Four members of the IBC handed over to Justice Minister Dean 200 bags of 25-kg rice, 50 bags of beans, 15 six-gallon Jerry Can containers of red palm oil, 10 bags of salt, 10 cartons of Vita cubes and one bucket of chlorine on Friday, February 17, in the compound of the Monrovia Central Prison (MCP), South Beach, Monrovia.
Four members of the Indian Business Chamber, including its Founding Chairman, Dr. Upjit Singh Sachdeva (in coat)
Responding when he received the items, Min. Dean thanked the Indian businessmen for thinking about the prisons and their occupants.
“We are pleased by this gesture and we ask other business friends of ours to follow suit. We have people detained here; they are our citizens though they came in conflict with the law but yet they are citizens of Liberia. While incarcerated, they are entitled to certain basic amenities, including feeding. So, we encourage all of our business friends to copy the example of the Indian Business Chamber and donate, contribute today to the less fortunate and to our prison around the country,” Attorney General Dean pleaded.”
A view of the donated items to prison facilities in Liberia by the Indian Business Chamber
The Justice Minister singled out Mr. Upjit Singh Sachdeva, who is more commonly known in Liberia as “Mr. Jeety,” for being a true friend of Liberia and Liberians.
“In fact Jeety is called ‘Our father’ around here by the inmates. They know him by his first name and his contributions and donations have been very helpful and his conduct has been exemplary,” the Justice Minister said of Mr. Jeety.
He stated that some of the items would be sent to some of the other 16 prison facilities, including the Kakata Central Prison, which is in next-door Margibi County.
From left to right: Dr. Upjit Singh Sachdeva (Jeety) Founding Chairman, Indian Business Chamber, along with Executive members Jaspal Singh, Kamal Parwani and Pradeep Babani
Speaking earlier before he, and his fellow Indian businessmen handed the items over to the Justice Minister, the Founding Chairman of the IBC, Mr. Jeety reminded everyone that on February 11, 2023, during one of his regular, monthly provision of hot, cooked meal to the inmates at the Monrovia Central Prison, he had promised that in the coming days, the IBC, would have donated at least 200 bags of rice and other items to prison facilities across Liberia and that the donated items would have been presented to authorities of the MCP for onward distribution to other facilities.
“My encouragement to my fellow members of the Chamber to come and be a part of this was because of the plead from the Honorable Minister few days ago that there is a shortage of food within the prison system,” Jeety said.
He then admonished others not to give to get but to inspire others.
“I urge all my fellow business friends out there, don’t give to get, give to inspire others.”
