Tokyo Cement Group stepped forward to support the Government achieve one of its Visions of Prosperity, by extending their “Fountain of Life“ program to the village of Nawakkulama in Medawachchiya. The water purification plant was declared open by Mr. Christopher Fernando, Executive Director of Tokyo Cement Company (Lanka) PLC. Tokyo Cement’s ‘Fountain of Life ‘initiative which started several months ago in three villages in Poonakary, Kilinochchi, this time around picked Nawakkulama; a farming village with a population of 500. This is one of the villages severely affected by Chronic Kidney Disease of uncertain origin (CKDu) in Anuradhapura.
With the aim of realizing a goal set on the Vistas of Prosperity manifesto, the Government has deployed several action plans to provide clean drinking water to every household in the island. Tokyo Cement Group, in support of this profound endeavour, initiated ‘Fountain of Life’ to set up Water Purification Plants in selected areas where access to potable water is a severe problem. Dr. Harsha Cabral PC, Chairman of the Tokyo Cement Group commenting on the program said, “We initiated our far-reaching ‘Fountain of Life‘ program in support of The Government’s ‘Water for All’ program which aims to provide drinking water facility to every household by 2025. People of Nawakkulama had many issues in accessing potable water. Chronic Kidney Disease was affecting the lives of this farming community and we wanted to do our part to help them. This program in the long term will support The Government achieve their goal while saving thousands of lives.”
The 125 farming families in Nawakkulama had a number of CKDu patients to date, due to limited access to good quality water. Presenting the most precious gift they could ask for, Tokyo Cement’s ‘Fountain of Life’ installed a water purification solution with Reverse Osmosis Technology, with an output capacity of 5000 litres a day. The Village Development Society, under the guidance of the Department of Rural Development of the North Central Province and Medawachchiya Divisional Secretariat stepped forward to manage the system, ensuring that everyone in the village benefits from the facility.
In the next phase of ‘Fountain of Life‘, five more villages in Anuradhapura District will receive water purification units with Reverse Osmosis (RO) capability. The solutions, each with a capacity of 10,000 litres per day, will be implemented during the first half of 2021 under the full sponsorship of Tokyo Cement Group.