Tokyo Cement celebrates National Tree Planting Day

Saturday, 30 October 2010 06:46 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

In celebration of National Tree Planting Day, which was on 15 October, Tokyo Cement Company (Lanka) PLC rallied together with the schoolchildren of Nalanda Vidyalaya Trincomalee to create a sense of awareness and responsibility, as they planted seedlings in the school premises.

The senior management of Tokyo Cement, school officials and the students came together on this day to participate in this initiative to emphasise the importance of youth involvement in the environmental well-being of the region and the country.

K.Yanagihara, Joint Managing Director, Tokyo Cement Company (Lanka) PLC who was present at the event commented: “Commemorating tree planting day is of great importance to our country and Tokyo Cement is proud to contribute to this venture. We believe that educating and involving the next generation is the way forward in creating sustainability in this country.”

While the company has launched such grass-root level programs of this nature, the company has also actively been involved in macro-level programs. In a region that has seen tremendous development in the last few years, Tokyo Cement has taken an initiative towards developing renewable energy sources, in the spirit of establishing Sri Lanka as a beacon in the energy industry.

The company has made giant strides into environmentally friendly business practices and has recently commissioned Sri Lanka’s largest biomass based power plant. As the plant will be fuelled by natural material such as paddy husk and Gliricidia sticks, it will provide a very sustainable solution for the natural waste issue.

Principal of Nalanda Vidyalaya, Trincomalee, Ranjini Senasinghe emphasised the importance of the role of children in protecting our environment: “Making sure that children understand the importance of the environment is crucial to setting up a stable environmental future for our world, and National Tree Planting day is the ideal day to underscore this. We are thankful for Tokyo Cement’s involvement in today’s event, as well their involvement in broader environmental initiatives.”

The use of biomass as a source of renewable energy is becoming a more popular option in today’s world, and with the support of companies such as Tokyo Cement, Sri Lanka is also positioning itself as a leader in the South Asian Biomass industry. The company will be using the Trincomalee project as an example for other regions and is hoping to expand the renewable energy ventures in other parts of the island.

General Manager Power and Renewable Energy E. Kugapriya said: “This power plant is the largest of its kind in Sri Lanka, and we are hoping to take this to the rest of the country and become a pioneer in the biomass fuel industry.”