Over 150 join forces to clean 800 meters of the Modara-Polwatte beach
The Modara-Polwatte beach in close proximity to the Panadura Harbour gained a facelift
recently as Citizens Development Business Finance PLC (CDB) marked International Coastal
Clean-up Day 2022 on September 17 th , with a beach clean-up programme. The project had
the support of Biodiversity Sri Lanka (BSL) and the Marine Environment Protection Authority
(MEPA). Team CDB and their families brought in their collective forces to clean this scenic
stretch of about 800 meters of beach, which moves southward from Egoda Uyana South
near the harbour.
Adding momentum to CDB’s sustainability ethos, this clean-up initiative was a part of the
‘Life to our Beaches’ project, a collaboration between Biodiversity Sri Lanka, Marine
Environment Protection Authority (MEPA), the Department of Samurdhi Development and
other like-minded corporates including CDB. Heralding a partnership between the public
and private sectors and the community, the project aims at not just ensuring preservation
and conservation of Sri Lanka’s coastal environment, but also in sustaining the
underprivileged communities residing in these surrounds.
While there’s limited habitat on this coastal stretch, large amounts of marine debris
including significant amounts of plastic wash aground during the monsoon causing harmful
impacts on marine life and the beach locale. With the CDB Team engaging in this
conservation effort, they also become aware of the dire need to mitigate marine pollution
and the harmful impacts of the irresponsible disposal of plastic waste and other non-
biodegradable material have on marine and human life.
Director/Deputy CEO and CFO of CDB Damith Tennekoon explains that Sri Lanka’s
western/southern coastal area is home to more than 40% of the country’s population but is
also, one of the most heavily polluted coastal belts. “It has long been our focus that in
looking after our planet, our actions must reflect a sense of purpose, action and
responsibility. That responsibility is vital in our corporate stewardship and extends to all
three pillars of social, economic and environmental – in other words, People, Planet, Profit.
“Our sense of purpose therefore is to ensure our planet’s survival and that includes the
oceans around us, which sustain not just human and marine life, but is also the lifeline for
communities living on the coastal belt. Cleaning up our beaches therefore becomes integral
to our environmental commitment, pushing our agenda of the planet’s sustainability with
this simple yet compelling act, which permeates to sustaining life on this planet in the larger
sense.”
CDB has always gained the commitment of its team members into its sustainability agenda
to inculcate the fundamentals of responsible stewardship. The pillar, ‘Engaging Mindful
Team Members’ focuses on infusing awareness of transparency, accountability,
responsibility and sincerity of action among team members, under the overarching ethos of
sustainability, which has seen the CDB Team significantly involved in reducing not just the
company’s carbon footprint but being leaders and activists in cascading the message of
sustainability across the board.
(Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358088080_Pollution_levels_in_Sri_Lanka’s_wes
t-south_coastal_waters_Making_progress_toward_a_cleaner_environment )
Caption 1 – CDB Team with large collection of waste
post beach clean-up initiative, a part of CDB’s ‘Life
to our Beaches’ project
Caption 2 – Team CDB and their families join forces to clean 800 meters of the Modara-
Polwatte beach stretch in Moratuwa in commemoration of the International Coastal Clean
up Day 2022.
Caption 3 – CDB employees joined in cleaning one of Sri Lanka’s most heavily polluted
coastal beaches with the aim of preserving it for the future generations.