BOC partners in reconstruction of Jaffna Railway Station

Wednesday, 15 October 2014 01:41 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

To strenghthen the bond between north and south

President Mahinda Rajapaksa unvailing the plaque in opening the BOC sponsored Jaffna Railway station and doing the first transaction on the BOC ATM. BOC Chairman Air Chief Marshal Harsha Abeywickrama and General Manager D.M. Gunasekara are also present After 23 long years of absence from the railways the famous ‘Yal Devi’, the legendary train that linked Jaffna with Colombo, returned to her home station – Jaffna Railway Station on 13 October 2014 bringing President Mahinda Rajapakse and Minister of Transport Kumara Welgama. With the arrival of the Yal Devi the President ceremonially opened the Jaffna Railway Station for operations. This historic moment signifies the re-commencement of the railway operations from Jaffna and the re-establishment of the bonds between the north and the rest of the country which had been under pressure during the three decades of war. The President also declared open the ATM that Bank of Ceylon had installed on the station premises for the convenience of all those who would be using the station. Bank of Ceylon Chairman Air Chief Marshal Harsha Abeywickrema, members of the Board of Directors of Bank of Ceylon, and the General Manager D.M. Gunasekera were among the distinguished guests who participated on this occasion. The Bank of Ceylon joined with The Sri Lanka Railways as a partner by making a significant investment in building the Jaffna Railway Station as a Corporate Social Responsible activity of the bank. The Bank of Ceylon, being Bankers to Nation has always been with the people of the country since its establishment in 1939. BOC has been in the forefront in providing banking and financial services to northerners with the opening of BOC Jaffna branch in 1945. At the time of peril in 2009 the BOC management and the staff of the bank made an extraordinary contribution in re-establishing normalcy within the region by expanding its branch network in North. Being aligned with the Government’s North development program ‘Uthuru Wasanthaya’, the Bank of Ceylon introduced a unique set of very special SME projects – Awakening north in rebuilding the lives of northern people. With the success of the phase I, bank has now moved into the Phase II of these projects while enjoying the simple pleasure of seeing northerners benefiting from the banks’ initiatives. Currently the Bank of Ceylon covers the Northern Province with 60 branches and 8 other service points connected online with all other branches in the country, and customers enjoy all banking and financial facilities that are available in other parts of the country. In Bank of Ceylon’s consistence effort to contribute to the growth of the region, the bank has provided substantial support to develop local schools, libraries and public hospitals during the past couple of years. Through its number of CSR activities and the excellent banking service the Bank of Ceylon has become the closest partner of the people of Northern Province.