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Tokyo
Cement on a mission to revolutionise the construction industry
Company
empowers masons to develop and advance the industry in Sri
Lanka
As
a contributor to National Development for more than quarter
of a century now, Tokyo Cement Group, as Market Leader has
always set the benchmark for the entire industry from providing
high quality products to pioneering innovative practices and
going that extra mile to ensure that the industry is continually
evolving and developing. The recently concluded ‘Masons
Seminar’ held in Kurunegala is one such apt case in point.
Tokyo Cement has conducted these quality assurance seminars
for masons for the past 11 years, in various parts of the
country. The objective of these seminars is to upgrade the
masons’ technical knowledge and skill levels by enlightening
them on the standards of cement in general, how to identify
good cement, the current types of cement available in the
market, the correct application and use of varying types of
cement to cater to different requirements, best practices
on how to maintain high quality in cement etc.
As most masons practice the traditional methods used by their
seniors which are most often incorrect, Tokyo Cement seeks
to rectify this situation by breaking the cycle. Says Mouly
Gooneratne, Consultant Engineer who has been an integral part
of this programme from the very beginning, “Most masons
start out as ‘golayas’ and learn under the ‘head
baas’, who is usually not correctly versed in the latest
trends and practices of the industry. With this programme
the systems which prevailed for generations are corrected
accordingly by educating them to look for standard and quality
to increase the overall quality of building and architecture,
that will last for more than a lifetime’.
The masons’ seminar held in Kurunegala last month was
a resounding success with the masons in the area expressing
their profound gratitude to Tokyo Cement for their beneficial
initiative. “Tokyo Cement always has our best interests
at heart; we receive tea, lunch and gifts worth the day’s
wage we are losing by attending the workshop. However, even
if this wasn’t the case, we would never grudge missing
a day’s wage by attending this workshop because we learn
so much,” said Ampitiye Dharmasiri, a mason. “I
chose this job with absolutely no knowledge whatsoever. It
was my father-in-law who taught me the basics of masonry and
I took his word as law as I knew no better then. It was only
when I participated in the Tokyo Cement programme held in
Peradeniya that I realised that there was so much more to
learn about this job. I’ve been a big follower of these
programmes ever since and I now know the correct building
systems and can now confidently start out on my own,”
said Dharmasiri appreciatively.
Another participant, Galagedara Jayaratne had this to say,
‘This programme was very useful to us, especially as
we had never received such expert knowledge from other mason
workshops before. Having had 17 years of experience in this
field, I had the impression that all cement was of the same
quality. But now I know that the quality does in fact differ
from one to another. I have also learnt the versatile uses
of cement and innovative ways it can be used and mixed. I
thank the Tokyo Cement Company for educating us on the profession
and awarding us a certificate in recognition of our participation
as we now have the expertise to buy the correct products and
build trust with our customers because we can guarantee quality
and they can trust our advice,” he said.
A labour market survey carried out by the University of Moratuwa
revealed that from over 75,000 masons only 9.6% had undergone
any sort of formal training. “This is why programmes
like these are important because we update them on industry
trends and create knowledge to fill industry needs,”
Mouly Gooneratne firmly stated.
“In fact, because of the enormous success of this programme
and masons’ requests for more workshops, we took the
programme one step further and opened up our own Vocational
Training Centre in Trincomalee in 2001, where five-day resident
workshops were conducted for the masons and the National Apprentice
and Industrial Training Authority (NAITA) officials held a
practical test for all participants on the fifth day. Those
that passed were awarded a trade certificate by NAITA that
is recognised both locally and internationally. Over 500 masons
passed out successfully from our centre. We unfortunately
had to suspend functioning of our center in 2007 due to security
concerns but hope to recommence the programme in a central
location shortly”.
Tokyo Cement’s further commitment to the industry is
demonstrated through their recent attempts to give masons
another designation name. Adds Gooneratne, “even though
masonry is a lucrative profession, many of the young generation
do not want to follow in the trade because of the social stigma
of being called a ‘baasunna’. As a result of this,
Tokyo Cement had requested the authorities concerned to officially
change the designation name of masons”.
Tokyo Cement Ltd was established by renowned industrialist,
the late Deshamanya A.Y.S. Gnanam, with the Mitsui Mining
Company, Japan in 1982. Many of their brands are the most
sought after in the country and the company continues to strive
to set the standard in the industry by assuring quality and
innovation to their consumers.
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