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| Saturday, 14 June 2003 |
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Taking into consideration, the 1.5 million pilgrims that are expected to visit Anuradhapura to participate in this year's Poson religious activities, and the alarming fact that these devotees will be exposed to possible dangers of drowning due to the substantial increase in water levels when either bathing or refreshing themselves in nearby reservoirs; Eagle Insurance took a proactive approach and organised a detailed briefing session on Poson safety amongst lifeguards in a bid to familiarise and prepare them on the various arrangements made for the Poson Safety Campaign in Anuradhapura. Eagle Insurance for the 10th consecutive year will conduct this Poson Safety Campaign with the support of the Life Saving Association, by utilising the services of over 300 professional lifeguards. The scheduled mass-media drive and the overall project-plan along with details pertaining to the infrastructure which will be put in place to facilitate pilgrims such as support services that will be provided by police, navy and hospital authorities etc., were discussed comprehensively so as to update and inform the lifeguards on the recent developments taking place in Anuradhapura as Poson approaches. This meeting was conducted by Eagle in collaboration with the life Saving Association, with the intention of enhancing the preparedness among lifeguards about the activities taking place with regard to the campaign in Anuradhapura, so that the lifeguards will become familiar with the various procedures in place. More importantly, as a result of the briefing, the lifeguards would be able to carry out their duties efficiently and in a smooth and uninterrupted manner. In addition, Deepal Sooriyarachchi, General Manager, Eagle Insurance offered his expertise on leadership skills so as to further enhance the lifeguards' decision-making abilities. While explaining the objectives of the program, Amal Perera, Market Manager, Eagle Insurance said that Eagle as a socially responsible company is always committed to the betterment of society and it pursues this goal by contributing towards two main spheres: . Firstly, the creation of safety awareness amongst all segments of society - this was done with the aim of minimising preventable accidents, as Eagle believes that accidents are usually the result of carelessness and negligence, yet with adequate information the rate of incidence can be lessened. . Secondly, on recognising academic excellence amidst schoolchildren, Eagle has initiated a Higher Education Scholarship Scheme which was started in 1994 to award scholarships to students from each district islanwide, who excel in the year 5 scholarship examination. These students are entitled to receive financial assistance throughout their A/L and university degree. Addressing the gathering, Piyadasa de Silva, General Secretary, Life Saving Association stated that the association had been providing its expertise since 1947 and continued this Poson Safety Campaign for more than 20 years. With Eagle's contribution and direction, it has now gained international recognition. Piyadasa de Silva thanked Eagle for its continued support rendered towards the promotion of lifesaving and safety principles in Sri Lanka. The Poson Safety Campaign is the third initiative in Eagle's activity-plan where more than a hundred pilgrims were rescued to-date. The second program in Eagle's activity-plan was the recently concluded road safety awareness campaign, which was specifically targeted at schoolchildren and highlighted the danger of unsafe driving and the need for motorists to comply with basic traffic rules. Its first initiative was successfully spearheaded prior to the Sinhala and Tamil New Year festive season to discourage the usage use of fireworks amongst children and adults. The Avurudhu Safety Campaign received overwhelmingly positive results as for the first time in many years, no firecracker victim was admitted to the Colombo National Hospital Accident Ward. |
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