Representatives from European Parliament visit to Shannon Estate

Representatives from the European Parliament   visited Shannon Estate to evaluate the progress of the Community Development Forum . They evaluated the leadership qualities amongst the Associates with special focus and discussions on creating opportunities towards the betterment of female Associates.  The high percentage of participation by female Associates was appreciated greatly by the visitors. It was a very successful event that enabled us to showcase the progress made at Watawala Plantations in employee engagement at estate level.

Target was to get maximum support and contribution towards achieving  organizational goals whilst empowering the Associates in decision making. 

Water Project -Ouvahkelle Estate

On Vellikellie Division of Ouvahkelle Estate, a Water Project and 25 Houses was officially declared opened on the 7^th February,2014 by our CEO Dr. Dan Seevaratnam and Mr.Suresh Bartlett the National Director of World Vision Lanka. Also present was Mr. Alex Samuel the Deputy General Manager-Plantations.

The Total cost of this Housing Project amounts to Rs.14 Million and the Water Project amounts to Rs.12 Million. This work was aided by the Government of Australia and implemented by World Vision Lanka. The Associates of Vellikellie Division along with the Community of Ouvahkellie Estate participated. Vellikellie Division is situated in the most remote area of Nuwara-Eliya District with a population of 1416 persons. They did not have shelter to live and did not have access to safe drinking water for a long period of time.

The Management of Watawala Plantations PLC who understood the difficulty of this Plantation Community sought the assistance of World Vision Lanka to implement this Housing and Water project for the benefit of this community.

As a plantation company, we invest in building communities as 96% of our workforce lives on the plantations.  We have a dedicated team at each estate who proactively engages with the communities to identify their needs in order to formulate necessary action plans.  Community stakeholders are given the opportunity to bring up their issues and concerns at the monthly Community Development Forums held at each estate which is chaired by the Estate Manager who ensures that proper minute is maintained of the meetings to facilitate action. The legacy issues of housing on plantations has been a hurdle for decades and we believe that issues related to this impede the socio- economic progress of the estate Associates.  Watawala Plantations has taken a corporate decision to migrate all employees living in line rooms to individual houses by 2020.  Accordingly we have launched many projects in 4 Estates with the assistance of Doner Agencies & the PHDT to-date we have completed more than 250 houses and handed over the keys to the employees.  We have ongoing projects for a further 20 houses and believe we are on target to achieve our vision for resident Associates.

Elder's Cultural Show-Shannon Estate

“Everyone has talent. What's rare is the courage to follow it to the dark places where it leads.” 

Art is a skill and it doesn't have an age limit. As a result of that we encourage our elderly people to show their talents even though they are in retirement. In keeping in this line of thought, Shannon Estate organized an Elder's cultural show in collaboration with Berendina Development in order to appreciate the talents of our elderly associates. This was done on the 28^th September 2013.The members of the Elder's Club participated in several items covering such areas as traditional and non-traditional dancing items and singing too. It was a colorful night filled with joy,talents and camaraderie. There were 100 participants and the Estate Management gave them the fullest support to make this event successful. 

 

Shramadana Campaign in Ouvahkelle

Ouvahkelle Estate organized a ‘shramadana’ during 13th and 14th September 2013 with the collaboration of World Vision Lanka. It was an event that connected their 1350 Associates towards a single aim - educating them in keeping their surroundings clean and tidy. The Associates cleaned their living areas, roads and approach foot paths during the campaign. After the ‘shramadana’ they were rewarded not only with healthier surroundings but also with nutritional food packs that were distributed.

Scholarship Programme

In the good old days, education was not a part of the plantation culture and it was not technically necessary in the early years. But after the rapid change over the past few years, the younger generation is seen open to education even though the resources are very limited due to the geographical location of the estates. Taking cognizance of this, we saw it our responsibility to cater to their educational needs by improving the quality of education and training and thereby create for them an enabling environment to improve the quality of their livelihood.

This we do consistently whilst continuing with our existing scholarship programme for GCE (A/L) and Undergraduate studies. Accordingly, we did initiate a payment of Rs.2500/- per child per month to estate Managers and Assistant Managers who have children attending schools in order to offset part of their expenses, whilst to the other categories of minor staff we pay Rs.5000/- per child to buy the school books, bags, uniforms, shoes etc. per annum. This has since been increased for the year current.

	No of Students	Amount Spent for the year
Advanced Level	15	360,000,00
Under Graduate Studies	44 (All students in 1st year to final year)	18000 per year for each student who continue with their higher studies.

"Respect your elders.They need your Care.It's about time the world was set aright."

  

October 1^st was International Elders Day. We place great importance in respecting our Elders and acknowledging the contributions they have made to Society and Economy. Their directions and advises still guide our lives. Therefore as a plantations company we give back to those who have retired from service on our plantations due regard and attention. In doing so we have formed Elders Clubs on most of our estates as a place where the elderly people can come, meet others of their vintage and relax.

We have carried out several events for elders within the year. We organized Elders Sports Meets, organized trips to the Dalada Maligawa, Galle Face Colombo, the Ratmalana Airport and other places which they have not been to before. They were great opportunities for them to visit those places. A part from that, we organize different activities such as Birthday celebrations, Vesak, New Year festivities and Christmas for them to enjoy and look forward to in the coming years.  Our care towards the elders is not limited only for 1^st of October but is a constant effort throughout the year.

Blood Donation at Strathdon Estate

                           "The finest gesture one can make is to save life by donating Blood."

                       

                                    Blood Donation is a service to humankind, by donating blood we can help one in need and save a precious life. Transfusion of blood saves millions of lives all over the world. We are a corporate citizen with concerns about the well-being of society. With this in mind, Strathdon estate organized a Blood Donation Campaign as a corporate social responsibility project. It was a successful community project with many citizens participating.