El­bert Red­vers Blades, 110 years old, was ho­n­oured by Ari­ma busi­ness­man, Ku­mar Ma­haraj on June 23, for be­ing the old­est man alive in the coun­try. Ma­haraj, CEO of Ma­haraj West­side Su­per­mar­ket and Jum­bo Foods Su­per­mar­ket Ltd, teamed up with sev­er­al or­gan­i­sa­tions, his staff and cus­tomers to cel­e­brate the life of Blades.

Ma­haraj's old­est cus­tomer, Blades was giv­en gifts rang­ing from "ham­pers to pam­pers". The most out­stand­ing was a bot­tle of John­ny Walk­er whisky with Blades' name en­graved on it, and a plaque which was pre­sent­ed to him from Ma­haraj West­side Su­per­mar­ket.

Those who gath­ered wished Blades God's bless­ings, good health and strength. Ma­haraj said this was just one of the ways in which they give back to so­ci­ety. He al­so said it was their way of ho­n­our­ing long life. Ma­haraj al­so made the de­ci­sion to sub­sidise adult pam­pers for se­nior cit­i­zens at his su­per­mar­kets.