Wisynco looking to rebound from fire disaster

Manufacturing and distribution giant, Wisynco is looking to pick up the pieces and rebound after the massive fire which gutted its Lakes Pen-based warehouse.

Already, assurances have come from Prime Minister Andrew Holness on behalf of the Government, and from the Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association (JMA), of support for Wisynco in its rebuilding efforts.

Indications are that the damage from the blaze, which lasted from after 4:00 pm until well into the evening, will run into hundreds of millions of dollars.  Fortunately for the company, its corporate and general administrative offices were not physically affected by the blaze, as they were housed in a separate building some distance away on the same property.

Now the biggest and most immediate challenges for the company include the huge clean-up exercise amid efforts by the fire department to determine the cause of the blaze, and a focus on how to minimise dislocation to the company’s normal services and its employees and the huge number of extended sales and logistics personnel who depend on its operations for their livelihood.

With no injuries reported from the fire, the company’s Director of Marketing and Development, Francois Chalifour, was reported on Radio Jamaica as saying the origin of the fire remains a mystery. The Jamaica Fire Brigade confirmed the position, indicating that it could take months to pinpoint a definite cause for the disaster.

Chalifour said, amid the obvious challenges, arrangements are being made to prevent any major dislocation to the company’s employees.

He said the cost to rebuild is expected to be known within a few days.

Wisynco imports a wide range of popular food, beverage and paper products, while producing similarly popular and mostly low-cost drink products.