Bernard Botejue Kolonna’s reforestation project
View(s):Bernard Botejue Industries, which has been in operation since 1948, recently completed the third phase of its main CSR reforestation project in Kolonna which is in the Ratnapura district.
On November 3, company employees along with villagers planted over 5,000 plants on six acres of land allocated and supported by the Divisional Secretary, Kolonna and supported by the Reforest Sri Lanka group.
Since 1992, Bernard Botejue has had a factory in this remote village of Kolonna.
According to company officials the factory not only focuses on fast turnarounds, high quality and efficiency but also emphasizes the importance of corporate social responsibility.
Scholarship programmes for students from the schools in the area, sponsorship of village events, donations for Montessoris, schools, temples and elders’ homes are undertaken annually along with other activities such as assisting employees with loans for the development of their homes and livelihood and dredging a lake that enabled the cultivation of approximately 70 acres of abandoned paddy land.
“We hope to continue the reforest programme every year thus contributing to increasing the forest cover and also providing fruit trees to avoid animal/human conflicts,” one official said.