Bereng Mpaki

THE Ministry of Trade and Industry has honoured three companies for excellent service and outstanding quality.

LSP Construction won the Company of the Year accolade, with Matekane Group of Companies (MGC) the runners-up, while Botho University won the Service of the Year award during a glittering ceremony held on Wednesday in Maseru.

The awards were conferred by the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s Principal Secretary Majakathata Mokoena-Thakhisi who described the winners as “models of business excellence”.

“The organisations receiving these awards have been evaluated through a multi-level review process, and I do not have to emphasize that it rigorous,” he said.

“Each of these honorees have one thing in common; and that is commitment towards working with employees and customers to offer outstanding quality and excellent service. As a result, the winning companies are truly models of excellence.”

In his remarks, the ministry’s Standards and Quality Assurance Department Director Molebatsi Rabolinyane said the awards paid homage to companies and individuals who contributed to the advancement of quality service in the country.

“The Lesotho Annual Quality Awards competition is aimed at recognising, appreciating organisations and individuals who contribute to quality advancement in the country in order to support national and regional economic development and growth,” Mr Rabolinyane said.

He said they had initially intended to award entries in five categories, namely Company of the Year, Product of the Year, Service of the Year, Exporter of the Year and Individual Award of the Year. However, only two categories were awarded on the night due to the lackluster response from the private sector which only submitted five entries to the competition.

“We still need to put in more effort to encourage the private sector to bring in more applications,” said Mr Rabolinyane.

“This is the third year we have been running the competition, and although there has been some growth, it has not been to satisfactory levels. The success of this competition depends on the participation of the private sector.”

LSP Construction Commercial Manager, Lebusa Lebusa, said the accolade was an indication of the company’s dedication to delivering excellent service to Basotho.

“We have won this award for the third year running, and this indicates our dedication to delivering excellence and quality in our operations,” Mr Lebusa said.

On his part private sector representative, Stephen Monyamane, said adhering to quality standards and efficiency in production increased a company’s competitiveness.

“However, we need to have our own national standards in order to support our entrepreneurs in this endeavor,” he said.