First Decade Communiqué:
Bolgoda 360 since its inception a decade ago converted a bare, unused land to a much-adored wedding destination. Upon building a structure for indoor banquets, the center of the attention was to introduce garden wedding to Sri Lanka; hence, the prime portion of the real estate along Bolgoda Lake was allocated for outdoor banquets.
At my first job in Sri Lanka, being the very first person MAS Holdings ever hired to work exclusively on Sustainability, I began a career having Environmental and Social Sustainability at the same priority as Economic Sustainability and making them the three pillars of foundation in my career endeavors.
Backtracking the Bolgoda 360 journey, many decisions were made in order to prioritize society and environment that may seem unwise and counter-intuitive towards achieving economic excellence. Providing opportunities to those deprived and marginalized in society in order to grow and achieve their dreams wouldn’t be possible without overlooking their temporary short falls - at times it may seem a great sacrifice to let go of those expectations of perfectionism and take collective responsibility in order to nurture those deprived and marginalized.
Some say mangroves are the lungs and kidneys of the world. Bolgoda 360 has taken every possible measure to preserve mangroves and provide an environment for natural foliage and wildlife to thrive and sincerely hope those who have chopped off mangroves along the lake will take efforts to restore them! Also, we are very satisfied with our efforts that went in to covering a bare land with a thick forest cover. Furthermore, we are determined and engaged in providing solutions to Human-Elephant-Conflict and protect Sri Lankan wildlife.
These efforts may seem to be at the expense of economic excellence, but another perspective on this is to hope such seeds of efforts sprout and make the society a better place. While thanking those who have been stakeholders of Bolgoda 360’s journey in the last decade, a humble invitation is extended to the society to join in our future journey!
Harith Soysa