Safe drinking water from Nestlé Lanka
On 9 November 2006, Nestlé Lanka inaugurated two drinking water facilities at the Sandalanka District Hospital and Pannala National School, which are in the vicinity of the Nestlé Lanka Kurunegala Factory. The hygienic facilities are built by drilling deep bore wells and installing water tanks to store the clean water.
Frits van Dijk, Executive Vice President on the Executive Board of Nestlé S.A. and Zone Director for Asia, Oceania, Africa and the Middle East, Martial Rolland, Chairman of Nestlé Lanka and Stuart Young, Managing Director of Nestlé Lanka were the guests of honour at the opening ceremonies.
During the inauguration at the Sandalanka District Hospital, the District Medical Officer Dr Jayasekera said, “Thank you to Nestlé for this wonderful donation. The Nestlé water facility has solved a serious problem. The hospital has enough water but the water is not safe and is not suitable for human consumption. Furthermore, not only has Nestlé built this valuable water facility but it has also been involved in tarring our internal roadway, landscaping our hospital premises and upgrading our children’s park.”
The Pannala National School has over 3,000 students and the Nestlé drinking water facility is situated on the main sports grounds. “Clean drinking water is a definite need for the students. The drinking water facility is greatly appreciated and will be useful particularly when we host sports events. We will be able to quench our thirst quickly, easily and safely,” said one of the children from the Pannala National School.
According to World Bank studies, currently only about one out of every 10 Sri Lankan households has water on tap and every fifth person relies on rivers, streams and other unprotected water sources for their drinking water. In order to help rural communities by providing access to drinking water, Nestlé – the number one water company worldwide – is financing clean drinking water facilities in villages located near its manufacturing operations. Such facilities have also been opened in India and Bangladesh.