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Management approach
The John Keells Social Responsibility Foundation (“Foundation”) is a registered voluntary social service organisation through which the John Keells Group has channelled its social responsibility activities since 2005. In 2007/08, the Foundation continued to dedicate itself to already undertaken commitments, as well as accept new ones that would contribute further towards sustainable social and economic goals.
Chairman, John Keells Holdings, Susantha Ratnayake, heads the Executive Committee of the Foundation, while the three other executive directors of JKH PLC comprise the board. The Foundation's initiatives and activities are managed by the Foundation Management Committee (MC), composed of a crossfunctional team of 18 senior executives drawn from various industry groups within the company. Each project is championed by a member of the MC and implemented by a subcommittee drawn from volunteers across the Group. The MC meets monthly and the Foundation's CSR projects are audited annually.
The key focus areas of the Foundation are education, health, environment, community development, arts and culture and disaster relief.
CSR road show
The John Keells Group launched the CSR exhibition road show titled “I CAN make a difference” to create awareness among staff about the CSR activities undertaken by the group and to enlist volunteers for the different CSR projects championed by the Foundation. The road show was launched in June 2007 at the head office complex and travelled to most business locations of the group covering 3,530 visitors in 45 locations across the island. Due to the prevailing security situation, Club Oceanic and Yala Village were not covered. As a result of the initiative, 1,913 employees volunteered to take part in the Foundation's various CSR activities.
Education and development
One of the main projects in this area is the English language scholarship programme, commenced in 2004, in partnership with Gateway Language Centres, which has continued with its objective of contributing to English language teaching across the island. The categories of scholarships offered under the programme since its inception range from the internationallyrecognised twoyear Edexcel Diploma Program (offered to students showing a good aptitude for English), to the 4month postAdvanced Level and preOrdinary Level English courses aimed at enhancing the employability of school leavers through better English language skills. The programme has also expanded to cater to communities with special needs. Accordingly, special programmes have been designed and conducted for trackers of the Yala National Park through a workrelated English course and the undergraduates of the university of Moratuwa transportation and logistics degree programme through a customised English Course.
The scholarship programme has, to date, empowered the lives of over 1,400 students in nearly all parts of the island, from areas as diverse as Colombo and its suburbs, Galle, Kandy, Matara, Bandarawela, Wellawaya, Habarana, Batticaloa and Vavuniya, and succeeded in creating an early and abiding interest in the English language among talented but less fortunate children across the country.
In addition to the classes, the annual English Day was held on 12th May 2007 at the Bishop's College auditorium in Colombo. Over 250 scholars from each area in which the scholarship programmes were conducted during the past year including Batticoloa congregated in Colombo for this event where they were given an opportunity to showcase their newlyacquired skills by performing an item of their choice.
Another initiative is the support of the honours degree of Bachelor of Science in transport and logistics management (BSc (T&LM) Hons.) at the university of Moratuwa. In addition to the existing English language training and mentoring programmes implemented by the Foundation, through the group's Transportation sector, a scholarship scheme was also launched to assist the undergraduates. A total of 26 scholarships will be awarded on both needand meritbasis. The first year students will have access to a needbased scholarship while the second, third and fourth year students will benefit from a meritbased scholarship. The recipients of the scholarships will also be encouraged to follow their industrial placement period at JKH; and JKH would annually offer employment within the John Keells Group to at least five students who graduate from the BSc T&LM degree.
“The Final Step”, a fiveday series of soft skills workshops for university undergraduates, was presented for the second time by the Foundation, in collaboration with the English language teaching unit (ELTU) of the university of Kelaniya. Designed to enhance the employability of graduates, the programme involved two panel discussions as well as three interactive workshops dealing with varied subjects such as Employer Expectations, Team Building and Leadership Skills, Adapting to the Corporate Environment, Personality Development and Confidence Building, Personal Grooming and Corporate Hospitality, with each day of the workshop attracting over 250 undergraduates.
The Foundation was also instrumental in initiating the development of a comprehensive audiovisual career guidance programme targeting preand postOrdinary Level school children. Supported by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, the programme covers over 100 career paths. It is intended for dissemination among all public schools in the island as well as through national television.
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Health and sanitation
The John Keells HIV/AIDS Awareness Programme continued with its second phase in 2007/08, carrying out its dual objectives of creating awareness amongst vulnerable groups as well as workplace education. A total number of 55 sessions were carried out during 2007/08, targeting 4,200 individuals. The sessions were carried out at a number of venues, including factories in the Biyagama Free Trade Zone, hotels in Beruwela, Hikkaduwa and the southern coast of the country, as well as the cultural triangle, the prison at Kalutara, Triad Advertising, Standard Chartered Bank, Colombo and HSBC Global Data Processing, Rajagiriya.
John Keells Group employees were also part of the workplace education programme. 23 sessions were carried out at “Cinnamon Grand” and “Trans Asia, Colombo” and “Chaaya Village, Habarana” for a total of 1,485 employees.
JKH was also the principal Sri Lankan corporate sponsor of the 8th ICAAP (International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific), held in Colombo in August 2007. Over 3,500 delegates from 60 countries attended the conference, which created dialogue on critical issues affecting the region, including awareness and education, improved access to care and treatment and support of the affected.
Meanwhile, the John Keells Vision Project also flourished during this year, with 508 cataract operations being successfully carried out island wide. This brings the total number of operations to 1,931 since the launch of the initiative in 2004. Meanwhile, spectacles were given to 20 deserving individuals. The target for 2008/09 is to complete 700 cataract operations and donate 50 spectacles.
Economic and social uplifting
Community development
Since the Foundation adopted the village of Halmillawe (20 km away from Habarana) in 2005, the development of the village has been positive and heartening. This has been particularly beneficial to the womenfolk, as a savings scheme called “Diriyen Idiriyata” (signifying that they are moving forward with courage) was initiated in June 2007, whereby the women save money and utilise it to supplement their family’s income. The Foundation matches the women's savings oneforone, in order to encourage them to be financially empowered. The women now save up to Rs.200 per month under this programme and have even taken a few loans from the scheme to finance their projects.
The Foundation also purchased seeds for the women and encouraged them to grow vegetables in their gardens for their own consumption. This has given them the opportunity to save money as well as ensure nutritious meals for their families. Meanwhile, a new preschool was also completed in September 2007, creating a safer environment for the tiny tots of the village to commence their eduction.
Other plans for the future include entrepreneurial skills development programmes for the women to enhance their incomes. Assisting the Foundation in implementing these projects are members of the “Wilpotha Kantha Ithurum Parishramaya”, Puttalam, who have achieved outstanding success, unaided, in similar projects in their hometown.
The Foundation embarked on an outstanding and visionary project in the evillage of Mahavilachchiya, close to Anuradhapura. Partnering with a newlyformed BPO company, OnTime Technologies, the Foundation launched a BPO operation unit that bridges the dichotomy between the city and the village. The John Keells Strategic Group IT division facilitated the set up of remote connectivity to JKH systems from Mahavilachchiya and OnTime's high speed internet links facilitate data access and transaction processing to InfoMate Ltd, a JKH Group company which is itself in the business of providing outsourced accounting services.
A tripartite agreement between John Keells Holdings, Foundation for Advancing Rural Opportunity (FARO) and OnTime Technologies, was signed in May 2007 and commercial operations between InfoMate and OnTime commenced in the same month. Digitised images are currently electronically transmitted to OnTime Ltd and the OnTime team carries out invoices processing and document indexing based on the images.
InfoMate Ltd provides staff of OnTime with training in the BPO centre in Colombo. The trainees are taken through an induction programme as well as a structured training programme in the processing of accounting transactions. The Foundation provides the trainees with accommodation in Colombo for the duration of the training. The initial group of six has been carrying out work satisfactorily and InfoMate hopes to increase the number to 20 by the end of 2008/09.
Other community development initiatives include the maintenance of the Masjidul Jalmiya Road in Colombo 2.
Disaster relief and philanthropic initiatives
The Foundation coordinated the following disaster relief and philanthropic initiatives in 2007/08:
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Donation of emergency nonfood essential items to resettled families at Vakarai, Batticoloa on 27th April 2007. |
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Opening of the 60 houses at Siribopura, Hambantota on 16th June 2007 (50 of which were sponsored through Galleon Tsunami Relief Fund and 10 by the Mayor of Champillion, France). |
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Opening of the Bales preschool in Viharagala, Hambantota on 11th November 2007, in partnership with Bales Worldwide Limited. |
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Distribution of school requirements to needy children in the Galle district in December 2007. |
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Donation of Rs.25,000 towards the Asia Foundation's Books for Asia programme in March 2008. |
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Sponsorship of equipment at the cost of Rs. 80,000 for the Lady Ridgeway Children's Ophthalmic Unit in March 2008. |
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Donation of funds to purchase books and stationery for deserving children in the Archdeaconry of Nuwara Eliya in March 2007. |
Values and culture
Sri Lanka's highly popular openair art gallery cum art fair, “Kala Pola”, came alive on Sunday, 20th January 2008 at the lush Exhibition Grounds of the Viharamahadevi Park. Conceived and organised by the George Keyt Foundation, the Kala Pola enjoyed the unbroken patronage of the John Keells Group for the 15th consecutive year. Over 250 artists and sculptors displayed their unbridled creativity to an increasingly appreciative clientele at this event. |
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