The Jana Jala Sanitation Community Organisation with its head office in Arachchikattuwa in the Puttlam district, won a Gold Medal at the World Water Day celebrations at the BMICH recently.
The organisation received the medal for its yeoman service on sanitation and water supply to local communities, numbering 10,000, who had suffered immensely over many decades due to the acute shortage of drinking water and the resultant constant ailments.
Apart from providing drinking water, the organisation extended loans of Rs. 15,000 to a family, out of the revenue it had generated, to hundreds of families to engage in self-employment ventures.
At the International Water Day celebrations in 2017, the organisations won an award for the best maintained water treatment plant.
Another significant humanitarian gesture of the organisation is extending financial support to meet funeral expenses on the death of a family member of its members. Rs. 30,000 is given to meet part of the funeral expenses and also chairs and huts for use during funerals.
At an event held at the Arachchikattuwa Sri Nagarama Viharaya to coincide with the International Women’s Day on March 8, water filters were given to people who were detected, at a initial screening, to have signs of developing renal problems.
‘Mee’ plants were planted in the vicinity of the treatment plant and in school compounds as an environmental protection measure by the organisation and this program will be continued in the coming months.