Nearly 50,000 people benefit from water and sanitation facilities in 2017-18
Nearly 50,000 people in 16 towns across Sri Lanka received better access to water and sanitation facilities at public institutions they visit, work or study in, as a result of an inspired community initiative executed in 2017-18 by Brandix, the country’s single largest apparel exporter.
The Brandix Model Village programme, which serves communities located within both a five-kilometer and ten-kilometer radius of the Group’s factories, engaged in the construction and donation of 74 water supply or sanitation projects to schools, hospitals, police stations, community centers, and places of religious worship during the year 2017 – 2018. The areas benefitted through these projects included Katunayake, Ekala, Giritale, Rideegama, Seeduwa, Batticaloa, Kahawatte, Koggala, Rambukkana, Ratmalana, Avissawella, Minuwangoda, Mirigama, Welisara, Pannala and Wathupitawala – locations that are home to 22 Brandix factories.
The Brandix Model Village programme is inspired by the temple, school and tank-centered village development concept, and initially identified and addressed water and sanitation related needs of people resident within a five-kilometer radius of Brandix factories. The second phase, embarked upon in 2017-18, extended its reach beyond the five-kilometer radius to ten-kilometers, to help 38 schools, 19 places of worship, seven hospitals, and four police stations, while also ensuring the completion of six standalone community projects.
Commenting on the Brandix Model Village programme, Ms. Anusha Alles, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility of the Brandix Group, said: “Inspiring communities by improving their quality of life with access to clean water and sanitation has been the central theme of our Corporate Social Responsibility agenda since the very beginning. The very visible impact of the first phase of the Brandix Model Village programme inspired a ripple-like extension that we hope will continue to benefit more and more people every year, and lead, ultimately to the elimination of the many issues faced by communities in areas where Brandix has factories.”
Since the inception of the Brandix Model Village programme in 2015, the company has helped alleviate water related problems faced by more than 161,000 people with a total of 234 community water supply and sanitation projects.
The Brandix Model Village programme focuses on assisting public institutions and communal locations by bringing communities together and building a sense of ownership that has lasting beneficial impacts. These projects enable the Group’s factories to play a role in the community, and become important contributors to the wellbeing of the people in their neighbourhoods. As a result, Brandix factories, which are usually among the biggest employers in the beneficiary communities, become an intrinsic part of the social fabric of the villages and towns assisted under the programme.