The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has embarked on a project to plant 10,000 trees in the northern districts of Jaffna and Kilinochchi as part of the Bank’s country-wide effort to promote sustainability.
The trees are to be planted on 600 acres of land owned by the University of Jaffna in Kilinochchi and Jaffna, and on the sides of sections of the A9 road that runs through the Kilinochchi District, the Bank said. The project will be executed in partnership with Green Layer, a not-for-profit an environmental organisation operating in Jaffna.
Commercial Bank Chairman Mr Sharhan Muhseen, Managing Director/CEO Mr Sanath Manatunge, Chief Operating Officer Mr S. Prabagar and representatives of the Bank’s corporate and senior management participated in the launch of the first phase of the project at the premises of the Faculty of Technology of the University of Jaffna. Senior representation from the University included the Dean of the Faculty of Technology Dr. T. Ketheesan, the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture Dr. K. Baheerathan and the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Dr. A. Kaneswaran.
The Bank said the first two phases of the project would each involve the planting of 3,000 trees within a month, and 4,000 trees would be planted in the third and final phase. The project would enhance the ecological landscape of the Kilinochchi District and have a positive impact on the local community.
The project supports Commercial Bank’s on-going ‘Trees for Tomorrow’ initiative to plant 100,000 trees around the country. The Bank is also reforesting a 100-hectare swath of degraded habitat belonging to the Kandegama forest in the Dimbulagala range of the Polonnaruwa District.
Other Commercial Bank supported community projects that promote sustainability include the ‘Life to Our Beaches’ initiative of Biodiversity Sri Lanka (BSL), under which the Bank has undertaken to fund the clean-up and continuing upkeep by a beach caretaker family, of a coastal stretch within the Kalutara Beach Park area, a mangrove restoration project in Koggala; a marine turtle conservation initiative in Panama, and numerous staff engagement initiatives such as beach clean-ups and community projects to uplift the environment.
Sri Lanka’s first 100% carbon neutral bank, Commercial Bank is the largest private sector bank in Sri Lanka and the first Sri Lankan bank to be listed among the Top 1000 Banks of the World. The Bank is the largest lender to Sri Lanka’s SME sector, and is a leader in digital innovation in the country’s Banking sector. Commercial Bank operates a strategically-located network of branches and 974 automated machines island-wide, and has the widest international footprint among Sri Lankan Banks, with 20 outlets in Bangladesh, a Microfinance company in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, and a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake in the Maldives.