‘Buy local goods’

Sharon Rowley, the wife of Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, is encouraging citizens to buy local as long as local products meet international standards.

Speaking to the media at Sacha Cosmetics Warehouse sale yesterday at the company’s Mission Road, Freeport compound, Rowley said once producers up their game, the local market can thrive again.

Rowley and one of her daughters, Tonya Rowley-Cuffy, visited the company after learning of the sale, in which most items were 50 per cent off. Hundreds of shoppers, mostly women, gathered from as early as 6 am for the sale, which started at 8 am.

“My daughter saw on Instagram and she told me about it because I’m very old fashioned, I would have had to look in the paper to see the advertisement–so she saw it and told me and I said we would come because one because we use Sacha and we buy local and two because the products are excellent products,” Rowley told reporters.

“There are certain things you would see that are used internationally–these makeup products and people would actually use Sacha products because they are off an equivalent standard as those well known products abroad, so of course because I am buying local, because it is cheaper and I will tend to use the products.”

She said both she and her daughter have been using the brand for years.

“And they work well as you get older you need to get a little more coverage and there are specific Sacha products that I would use, Sacha Kamouflage as the name says it camouflages the little things that we want to hide so that I would support buying products here.

“I would say buy local once it’s a good product, I think this will encourage the business community in TT to raise the level of the product that it offers to the public, once we raise that level, then we can compete with anybody internationally. And if you are doing that- then you return to the market, you advance the products, you advance TT in so doing.” Asked what her Christmas wish for the nation is, she replied, “I hope for a better TT, an improved situation economically and also with regard to crime–I hope that we are able to address the crime situation and I feel that if we all walk together into 2018 with spiritually in mind, we can improve our situation because we can do nothing without our trust and faith in God to help us along the way.”

Sacha director Kamla Maharaj told reporters the sale, which is held three times for the year, is the company’s way of giving back to its loyal customers.

Maharaj said her Christmas wish is to see those who have lost their jobs find employment.

“I want to see a lot of people get back their jobs, it’s very sad when you read on the papers and you see people on the streets, it is scary because too many people are being without jobs and it could only lead to a higher level of crime,” Maharaj.

She said despite a dip in sales, Sacha has not sent home any workers.

“Letting go people is not the solution and I always say half a bread is better than none–if you don’t have the orders and you physically can’t then workers will have to understand but at Sacha we still try to give you some days–here we have workers who have been with us for over 30 years and we operate like a family–we stick together.

“I honestly think we won’t go in that direction if things decline.”