CEAT conducts 50th School Road Safety programme

The ‘Road Safety for School Children,’ community programme launched by CEAT Kelani Holdings to educate students and parents on the importance of obeying traffic signs conducted its milestone 50th programme recently.

Conducted at Trinity College, Kandy, the 50th programme included a presentation by a senior retired police officer on road safety rules, pedestrian safety and road etiquette while students took an oath to uphold them in their daily lives.

In addition, transport providers to the school, including school van drivers were educated on children’s safety while on the move.

CEAT also donated a traffic management kit comprising of traffic cones, safety jackets, traffic signs and other aids to the school’s traffic squad.  “Statistics reveal that in 2011 road accidents was the number one killer in the 15 to 29 age group in Sri Lanka,” said Ravi Dadlani, Vice President Sales and Marketing at CEAT Kelani Holdings. “Our CSR initiative has covered to date more than 10,000 students and a large number of transport providers on road safety, and we hope it will help save lives.”

Since its inception in 2009, this initiative has educated school children in Jaffna, Batticaloa, Galle, Colombo and now Kandy and CEAT hopes to expand it to other parts of the country as well, he said. After the educational programme in each school, the schools are encouraged to conduct road and pedestrian safety awareness programmes for students with activities such as competitions, contests and exhibitions on an ongoing basis. The schools that have generated significant impact through these efforts are recognized and rewarded, the company said.

The ‘Road Safety for School Children’ project is an ongoing programme of ‘CEAT Cares,’ the company’s CSR programme. CEAT Sri Lanka gets the required sign boards and other aids fabricated to the requirements of the individual schools.

A National Business Excellence Award winner in 2010 and 2011, CEAT - Kelani Associated Holdings is an Indo-Sri Lanka joint venture between the RPG Group of India and Kelani Tyre – Sri Lanka. The company operates three manufacturing units manufacturing truck, light truck, radial, motorcycle, three-wheeler and agricultural tyres and employs a workforce of 900 people.