‘No Kunu’ campaign kicks off appointing ‘Guardians of the City’

By Divya Thotawatte

The ‘No Kunu’ campaign kick-started last weekend, with ten corporates pledging support to maintain the area around their specific organisations as ‘Guardians of the City’.

With the prime objective of building a system of civic engagement that will help Sri Lanka become the cleanest country in Asia, phase one of this campaign was initiated from the vicinity of the Diesel and Motor Engineering Head Office in Jethawana Road.

“Last Saturday, we launched the campaign from the DIMO office. The response from the public was excellent. They were overwhelmed. We are asking corporates to adopt the tenements. We went from house to house to educate residents on how to segregate their garbage. We have uploaded educational videos on Youtube and other social media,” said No Kunu campaign organiser Sumi Moonesinghe.

The campaign aims to focus on one city at a time, moving from cities to villages, beaches, farms, houses, shops and companies to teach them how to separate their garbage and to mobilise the company workforce to help clean the area assigned. The Guardians of the City intend to educate and assist the producers of garbage, especially in the economically disadvantaged urban tenements and slummy areas of the city. The No Kunu campaign plans on covering 500 tenements in Wanathamulla this weekend.

Moonesinghe stated that the No Kunu team is planning to do a survey on how many students, disabled and sick patients live in these tenements. “We will prepare a summary of the things they need, shoes, bags, bottles, etc. But, donating these items is optional to the corporates. This initiative is not political, but we get enormous support from the corporates.”  

The corporates sponsors provide human resource and a limited financial commitment to uplift the living conditions of the underprivileged residents who live in and around their specific corporate headquarters. Also, corporates will onboard all employees of the staff onto the No Kunu pledge – instilling the need to not litter and to separate waste. 

Additionally, No Kunu signage will be put up around office premises of corporate sponsors and the roadways leading to and around office touch points. The No Kunu team will also paste a sticker on the doors of all grocery shops, tea-kiosks and cafes who take the No Kunu pledge to keep their environment clean.

Many renowned social personalities, such as Former Cricket Captain Kumar Sangakkara, have taken the No Kunu Campaign pledge.  Quoting John F. Kennedy, Moonesinghe added: “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.”  

While the campaign is organised by Sumi Moonesinghe, the No Kunu team consists of the retired Anchor A-team led by Shehara de Silva.