Labour Minister decorates SABC staff with medals

Some 60 workers of Les Brasseries du Cameroun in the West Region have received service medals from the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Gregoire Owona, for their selfless services for the company.

The workers were decorated at a grandiose ceremony that recently took place at the Bafoussam ceremonial ground.

The recipients, consisting of employers, workmen, supervisors and managers of Les Brasseries du Cameroun, received 82 medals comprising 28 gold, 26 silver and 28 bronze, in recognition of their relentless and unwavering services to the institution.

While thanking the enormous contributions of Les Brasseries du Cameroun in its fight against unemployment and poverty, the Minister Owona emphasised the importance of the workers to the enterprise and the enterprise to the workers.

“It is important to state that without the workers, an enterprise is nothing, same as without the enterprise, a worker is nothing. I urge you to continue the efforts towards the humanisation and the well-being of workers by preserving the competitiveness of your enterprise,” Owona stated.

He said Government is doing a lot to fight against poverty and social inequality,quoting a declaration once made by the Head of State who said that his ultimate goal is to “give every Cameroonian the possibility to feed, treat, house himself, educate his children, live in complete safety and have ajob.”

The Minister hailed some reforms recently undertaken by Government to fight against poverty and social inequalities in general and the work-place in particular. “Henceforth, retirement pension is extended to all workers in the informal sector. Be they retailers, farmers, tailors, barbers; they can subscribe to a voluntary insurance, on the bases of their monthly salary that will enable them collect their pension in due time,” the Minister averred.

He enjoined the medal awardees to be proud and referred to them as models of a well rendered service to their institution.

The GeneralManager of Les Brasseries du Cameroun, Francis Batista, said the recognition marks a new era in the lives of some the workers.

“For some of you, this decoration marks a new stage in your lives; for others, it is the end of their professional lives; for all, it is an occasion to individually and collectively measure how much work is important in someone`s life. In fact, work is a means to realise oneself, to show his or her capacity to create, exercise his or her talents and to contribute as a member of a team to the putting in place of a strategy for a common destiny.”

Batista added that the medals are glaring testimonies that have projected the beneficiaries as models to the younger generation, while hoping that the younger ones would be inspired by them.

Going down memory lane, Batista said SABC was created on February 3, 1948, in Douala. It recently celebrated its 67 years of existence with an annual production (2014) of more than 8.7million millilitres of beer, gaseous drinks and water.

“With seven factories set up in Douala, Bafoussam, Mbanga, Yaounde and Garoua, and 26 distribution centres spread out in the 10 regions of the country, the company and its subsidiaries have employed about 6,000 people.That places us among the first employers in the country,” he boasted.

The GM congratulated Cameroon’s defence forces at the war front for ensuring that Cameroonians live in peace.

The Coordinator of Les Brasseries du Cameroon in the West Region assured the GM of their support to ensure that the vision of the company is attained.