Monrovia – As he scales down his community daily feeding programs to thousands of poor Liberians living on the margins of the society, the Honorary Indian Consul General in Liberia, Mr. Upjit Singh Sachdeva has in the last 22 days handed out 56,347 plates of ready, cooked meal to these Liberians.
Report by Alaskai Moore Johnson, [email protected]
Honorary Consul General Sachdeva, who is more popularly known in Liberia as “Jeety”, told this newspaper that he was now scaling down his community daily feeding program in some communities because President George Weah has now eased the lockdown time thereby making some of those Liberians to fend for themselves within the stipulated time—from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Initially, the lockdown had been from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.
However, Mr. Jeety said he’s not going to discontinue the feeding and that he will continue his usual five-days-a-week feeding he had been doing before the outbreak of this deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-2) or Covid-19.
Mr. Jeety, along with his team, including officers of the Liberian National Police (LNP) riot unit, begins handling out the meals by 3 p.m. He begins in Vai Town, Bushrod Island, where he has the headquarters of his business conglomerate.
From Vai Town, he and his team, including the officers, who accompany him to provide security, make stops on Buchanan Street, Center Street, Randall Street (Coconut Plantation), Newport Street and Logan Town (Zolowee Community), to handout the packaged meal and one sachet of water. On all these streets, in the heart of Monrovia and other places, are located dens for these destitute Liberians, some of whom are known to be hardcore criminals.
In all these places, those of them who spoke to this newspaper, have usually praised Jeety so highly for his gesture to them.
Mr. Jeety has also handed out meals to Waterside, West Point (LEC Junction), Johnson & Broad Streets Intersection, 24th Street beach side, Slipway Community, Old Road (near the Police depot) and Old Road (near Kailondo Guest House). Other places he has also handed his tasty plates are Zimbabwe Community (Bishop Michael Francis Road), King Gray Community, Liberian National Police Headquarters for inmates and the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC), which distributes the food to other less-fortunate Liberians, too.
Even though he is scaling down, one of his Liberian aids told this newspaper that they are still going to be visiting few communities, including Slipway and Center Street to continue the feeding.
Mr. Jeety, who is a known Indian businessman, rarely talks about this aspect of his generosity to the press.
On Saturday, May 9, when a journalists covering the feeding program on that day sought an interview from him, he in passing said: “Look, my friend, I don’t want to talk about this. These are my people; this is my second home. All I want is more prayers for more of God’s blessings on me.”
He told FrontPageAfrica on Monday, May 25th, “We don’t need to have deep pockets or be rich to help the needy, the poor and the hungry. All we need to have is a heart of giving.”
Mr. Jeety, a member of the Sikh religion, has over the last five years been feeding ordinary Liberians, who go to his Vai Town feeding center five days a week to get hot, ready-cooked Liberian dish.
Foreign Minister Praises Jeety
Recently, Foreign Minister Milton Gbehzohngar Findley expressed satisfaction with the launch and sustenance of the Public Feeding Initiative being undertaken by Mr. Jeety.
“The Honorary Consul General of India, who himself is a distinguished entrepreneur in Liberia, has a history of excellent partnership and communal cooperation to the national development drive of Liberia. This, we believe, is germane to strengthening the already cordial relationship between the people of the Republic of India and the people of the Republic of Liberia,” Foreign Minister Findley said Tuesday, May 19, in a Ministry of Foreign Affairs release.
Foreign Minister Findley recalled that over the years, Mr. Jeety has been “overly instrumental in ensuring that the Republic of India extends concrete bilateral support to the people of Liberia through several donations, including a number of buses provided the Government of Liberia through the National Transit Authority (NTA) to enable easy access to public transportation across the country.”
Other Gestures
The Honorary Consul General on Wednesday, May 6, donated 10,000 doses of the vital selenium drug use in the supportive treatment of Covid-19 patients and others.
Honorary Consul General Sachdeva presented the two cartons containing 100 bottles each of the drugs to Dr. Jerry Brown, at the 14 Military Hospital in Margibi County, where Liberia’s Covid-19 confirmed cases are kept and being given supportive treatments against the Covid-19.
Again on April 11, 2020, Mr. Jeety led the Indian Community in Liberia and they made a donation valued more than US$40,000 through Dr. Jerry Brown to the 14 Military Hospital and to the army assigned at the hospital.
