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| Sunday, 10 August 2003 |
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Shell LiveWire award for pottery proprietress by Pelham Juriansz Samantha Kumari Senerath, the lithesome lass from Moranthota, won the prestigious award for the best entrepreneur at the Shell LiveWire Start-Up Awards ceremony. The second place went to H. Cyril Saman Kumara Senadeera of Senadeera Agro Service, Rambukkana and third place to A.A. Thushara Nilmini of Amarasinghe Aquarium, Ambalantota. The winner, 29-year old Senerath, who hails from the little hamlet of Hungampola, has called her pottery industry 'Neo Lanka Potters' as it is something new and innovative. That is what the Shell LiveWire programme is all about; something new, exciting and marketable. Hailing from a family of seven, all of them university graduates, Senerath, the proprietress, hopes to invest the Rs 200,000 she won at the awards ceremony to better her thriving business and expand it to other areas. When interviewed by the Sunday Observer, Senerath was all agog about winning the award and specially about winning her first award barely one and a half years after starting her business. "It is far better to commit all your energy to investing in your own business rather than working for someone else," commented Senerath, a sentiment that was expressed by other competitors as well. "Many of us are not very educated, but this should not deter us from attempting to stand on our own two feet," she said. Having acquired her training through the Ministry of Vocational Training and Rural Industries, she ventured into pottery with clay from her own environment. "The clay I use for the products is taken straight from our garden, which is an acre in extent," she explained. Steven Bartholomeusz, Business Corporate Manager of Shell Gas Lanka Ltd and Manager Shell LiveWire said that this is the fourth annual awards ceremony and interest has grown tremendously over the years. Over 70 applicants were among those who came into the spotlight and this number was reduced to 11 contestants representing 10 companies. Roberto Moran, Country Chairman Shell, said 80 per cent of US enterprises are small or medium businesses with less than 20 employees. "And as one of the competitors said, it feels better to start one's own business and provide employment for others as well than queuing in the unemployment line," he said. Deputy Minister of Power and Energy, Sagala Ratnayake said that governments cannot run business and that it is the private sector that should run business. The private sector is powered by small enterprises, he said. "Sri Lanka should move from a being welfare-driven society to an economy that is driven by the society. A welfare-driven society is very expensive and makes the people poorer and the politicians more powerful. It is a vicious cycle and something we should move out of. The Government is making a bold effort to get out of this cycle," Ratnayake said.The Shell LiveWire programme attracted only 456 participants when it was started in 1999. Over 4000 have now registered with the company and attend workshops around the country. "The feedback is tremendous," said Bartholomeusz, commenting on the success of the project. The annual Shell LiveWire programme recognises the efforts of young entrepreneurs who have been in business for less than two years. The other finalists for this year were H.M. Anuradha Herath of E-Rats Technologies, W.W. Salaka Sanjeewa of Three Star Electrics and Video Centre, D.M. Rathna Prabath Dharmarangana of Dharmarangana Food Process, the husband and wife combination of Rasika Nilushan Randeniya and Nishanthi Kumudu Kumari of Micro Vision Computer Training Institute, Suranji Karunathilaka of Westa Jewellery, T.G. Ajith Senarathna of T.G.A. Furniture and P.W. Lakshan Perera of Sathsara Technical Works. |
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