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Saturday, 23 August 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the water purification plant, Minister of Child Development and Women’s Affairs Tissa Karaliyadda stated, “It is a positive sign that H.E. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has advised the provisioning of Rs. 900 million from the budget to eradicate Chronic Kidney Disease from the North Central Province and supply purified drinking water to the people in the area. We should also commend the work carried out by companies like the Hayleys Group whose efforts are directed towards providing purified drinking water to the people affected by CKD.”
Studies indicate that an approximate 400,000 people are currently affected by CKD, of which men between the ages of 15 – 60 years are the most vulnerable. Studies show that providing purified water is found to be the key solution not only to eliminate CKD but to reverse the effects of those affected by it.
Commenting on the initiative carried out by Puritas, Mohan Pandithage, Chairman, Hayleys Group stated, “I am humbled in knowing that our team has come together in providing a solution for a severe problem faced by the people of the North Central Province. With this project, Maithreepura, the third most affected village in the NCP will now have access to purified water. I am confident that the health of the villagers and their lives as a whole will improve with access to purified drinking water provided through this initiative.”
‘Puritas Sath Diyawara’ CSR project will reach out to the people of the North Central Province who are overshadowed by CKD, via livelihood development activities, health camps, knowledge dissemination activities and education. This programme will see the establishment of a library and internet facility for villagers of all ages and gender as well. In addition, activities will be carried out to improve health and sanitation of the villagers. Sustainable environmental management will be encouraged by promoting best practices in agriculture, integrated farming and organic agriculture by establishing a model farm to demonstrate organic farming. This Reverse Osmosis water purification plant will benefit approximately 1500 people in the Maithreepura village.
Elaborating on the Group’s CSR initiative in water purification arena, Rajitha Kariyawasan, Managing Director of Haycarb PLC stated, “This entire project is funded by the Haycarb Group, while the design and the construction were overseen by Puritas, under the guidance of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board. Our aim is to create an integrated sustainable village in Maithreepura. We are pleased that we are able to hand over the entire initiative to the ‘Maithree’ Community Based Organisation today.”
Under this program, the centralised water treatment plant will provide approximately 10,000 litres of purified water per day. Besides the main water treatment plant, additional five docking stations from where water can be sourced are stationed across Maithreepura to ensure that purified water is accessible to everyone in this village. Surveys will be conducted on a regular basis to monitor that the villagers are benefited from this initiative and to ensure that the best is always given to the people.
Commenting on why Puritas embarked on this noble cause, Puritas Limited Director Sharmila Ragunathan stated, “We at Puritas, have been in the forefront of providing water and wastewater solutions with over 250 plants in Sri Lanka and in the Republic of Maldives treating over 20,550,000 litres of water per day (both water or various forms of effluent). We take pride in addressing the need for purified water by, arguably, the most sensitive group of fellow citizens of our country right now.”
