Beacon of the day | Company Cleans Four Police Stations Amid COVID

Beacon of the day | Company Cleans Four Police Stations Amid COVID

November 10, 2021 0 By Jamaica Beacon

Left to right: Mark Demetrius, Richard Smillie, and an officer of Linstead Police Station

Dixon’s Drug Store has voluntarily sanitized the four stations in the Linstead area of the St. Catherine North Police Division; this as it continues to display social responsibility amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The stations are in Linstead, Ewarton, Guy’s Hill and Bog Walk.

“I see it as a part of my social responsibility to reach out wherever I can,” said Mark Demetrius, Manager of Dixon’s Drug Store in Linstead.

It is not the first time that his entity is offering such service to public organizations since COVID-19 was confirmed on the island.

“This is not the first that we are doing things like that; I just don’t normally highlight it,” Demetrius told The Beacon. “We have done many clinics – Riversdale, Bog Walk and Linstead [Health Centres]. We also did the Linstead Public Hospital. This is about the fourth time that we are actually doing Linstead Police Station.”

It costs the company some $50,000 to clean Linstead Police Station on each occasion, Demetrius said.

He noted that, since he commenced the initiative, Paramount Trading, owned by Member of Parliament Hugh Graham, has donated some chemicals.

“We normally purchase the chemical [to sanitize the public places offering essential services], but when Paramount heard that we were doing it they immediately reached out and donated some chemicals,” Demetrius said. His company, Dixon’s Drug Store, also provides professional sanitizing services to private clients.

He is of the view that, in order for normality to the restored, business owners like himself have a crucial role to play in keeping the number of COVID-19 cases at minimum.

The island, to date, has recorded 89,788 cases of the virus and 2,293 deaths as a result of it, the health ministry reported. It also stated that 59,473 people have recovered.

“Every now and then you hear of a spike in particular communities [in Linstead],” said Herbert Garriques, Councillor for the Linstead Division.

He lauded the team at Dixon’s for their continued philanthropy.

Regarding the latest display of social responsibility, Garriques commented: “It is a good feeling, and a matter of giving the police a little more assurance for their own safety against COVID-19.”

The equipment used by Dixon’s is effective in removing germs that can cause COVID-19 to spread, according to Richard Smillie, the professional who operates the company’s electrostatic sprayer.

“It is an electrostatic machine [in which disinfectant is poured]. When you turn on the laser light, it brings up the germs. You can see where the germs is, and so you go through and wipe first and then you check it with the light again and spray and kill the germs,” Smillie further explained.


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