It is invariably the duty of every corporate entity to fulfil its share of responsibilities towards the society it operates in. As an organization profits from the land and the communities it has a relationship with, part of its greater effort must be to uplift the conditions and prosperity of the people and the environment in its sphere of influence, so that the benefits derived are mutual, and long sustained. 

The region of Jaffna; particularly the area of Maravanpulo, is home to two of Ceylex’s primary wind energy projects; Vayusakthi Vitpaner and Yaal Vayupahavan. The projects are practically within sighting distance of each other. With such a presence established, where the increased capability of power generation was benefitting the entire island, there was no question that Ceylex needed to pay attention to the needs of the immediate locality. 

Road Infrastructure Development 

The local road networks in Thanakillapu and Maravanpulo were in a poor state due to the rural nature of the area. Although vehicular traffic was minimal, villagers still used these roads for both commercial and sundry purposes on a daily basis. Therefore, the first focus of Ceylex was to renovate the area’s road infrastructure. As the final outcome, a whole host of main, access, and by roads were renovated with new gravel and machine-levelled, thus improving their usability significantly. 

Public Structures and Utilities Improvements 

Village-life and its quality, solely depend on how far and well the basic infrastructural framework has been established. To truly provide the two villages a boost towards becoming townships sometime in the future, we felt that certain fundamental amenities needed to be fulfilled.  

• Common Halls are vital to the progress of a village, where the population gathers in order to discuss and take decisions on important matters. Steps were taken to renovate common hall premises in both villages and make improvements by way of providing electricity, erecting compound walls, and supplying office furniture.  
• In Maravanpulo, a brand new 2000kg-capacity fertilizer storage building was constructed in addition to the repairing of three public wells in the area, while in Thanakillapu, a new leisure & rest building was erected for the use of fishermen in the village.  
• And, finally, the road connecting the two villages of Maravanpulo and Thanakillapu was given night-time illumination with the installation of 55 100W LED streetlights that had inbuilt daylight sensors for automated operation.  

Each of these improvements served to substantially improve the living conditions of public life in the villages; creating an elevated setting from which they could progress further than they could ever before. 

Upliftment of Educational Facilities 

Positively contributing to the development and welfare of the children in the two villages was also viewed as a highly important aspect of our socially responsible initiatives; the primary reason being that the future growth of the villages rested on them. Therefore, we turned our focus to enhancing facilities that would directly improve their quality of education. 

• In Maravanpula, a boundary wall was erected right around the school, giving pupils a sense of pride in their school as well as creating a safe and secure environment in which they can learn in. A tree-planting project was also subsequently carried out with the objective of inculcating good habits relating to environmental conservation. 
• In Thanakillapu, the exterior and interior of the preschool was completely repainted in a way that was appealing to the children themselves. The village library building too was repainted and a boundary wall was erected around it; creating a comfortable setting where children could come to read. 

The only goal we wanted to achieve through our social responsibility initiatives was that the two villages gain meaningful value that could be sustained and built upon. As it is with all of our energy generation projects, the final desired outcome of anything we commit to as Ceylex, should be sustainable, as it is positive. We are hopeful and confident that this approach of ‘building commercially to develop socially’ is something we can replicate in every region which we establish a presence.