CICT & HIPG gift essential foods to 362 families of ‘Hope Village’

Families in a village in Sri Lanka’s deep South witnessed corporate generosity and empathy when Colombo International Container Terminals Limited (CICT) and Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG) joined hands recently to donate dry rations to residents of Kandagasmankada in the Lunugamwehera Division of the Hambantota District.

Dubbed ‘Hope Village’ after the hamlet was “adopted” for a flagship community development project funded by the China Merchants Foundation (CMF), Kandagasmankada is the highest-populated village in the Hambantota district, and the largest contributor to the agricultural sector within the Lunugamwehera division.On Friday 23rd September, representatives of the two China Merchants Port Holdings (CMPort) managed companies visited the township to present 362 families with hampers containing nearly six tons of food to the value of Rs 2.7 million.

This ‘Hope Village’ — the second of its kind — was launched in 2022 as a development model village to assist marginalised communities in the Hambantota district. It is a collaboration between CMF – the CSR arm of the China Merchant Group – which has provided a budget of Rs 60 million, and the non-profit Nirmala Foundation. CICT and HIPG are the facilitators of the project.

The funding will provide the village a community centre, health centre, agriculture centre, playground facilities as well as financial assistance to the village temple, and will benefit approximately 2,170 residents.

CICT’s first ‘Hope Village’ project chose Pannila near Horana as the beneficiary. The company has already built a two-storey community centre at a cost of Rs 17 million for the village. The centre provides accommodation for several local government offices that provide essential services to about 2000 people.

A generous contributor to community welfare, CICT is also the principal sponsor of Sri Lanka’s Wheelchair Tennis Programme and has donated over Rs 54 million for the cause over the past seven years. CICT and CMF have also supported the “C-Blue Restore Sight Project” in Sri Lanka in collaboration with the National Eye Hospital, which has helped more than 400 cataract patients regain sight.