Our Community…Live and Let Live

Dimo is conscious of the fact that it is positioned within and is part of a larger community. In fact, so are our customers and employees. We seek the acceptance of our community as a responsible corporate. That is why we consider the community to be one of our stakeholders.

As much as our personal values and beliefs dictate that we be considerate towards others, collectively as a tribe we have resolved that these values and beliefs be put into practice. We consider it our duty to listen to what the community expects from us and meet them within the bounds of economic reality.

The stakeholder engagement surveys that have been carried out helped us to identify the areas that we should involve ourselves in, to help and develop our community.

1. Supporting technical and vocational education of youth.
2. Developing the social and physical infrastructure of the community.
3. Enhancing the quality of life of the local community.

Our involvement and engagement with the larger community dates back over seven decades, to our inception. We have a long history of listening to the community and investing in its well- being and advancement.

Our over 1500 strong family of employees constitutes one of the single largest communities we engage and interact with on a daily basis. Fuller details appear in the section Working at Dimo... Enjoyable and Rewarding. Other segments of the community we engage with are our customers, shareholders, regulatory authorities and principals – details of our interaction with them appear elsewhere in this management report.

What concerns us in this segment of our report is our engagement with the wider stakeholder group – the general public and society at large.

Our philosophy is to use local community engagement strategically, to learn how to serve them as a business and to nurture, support and care for them as a responsible business entity.

Our various business locations assisted in the combat and eradication of the dreaded dengue disease as a community service activity – here are the details:

Our Kurunegala branch facilitated a lecture on Dengue prevention for students and teachers at Ariyagama Siddhartha Maha Vidyalaya, Mugunuwatawana., with the participation of more than 320 students.

Our Jaffna branch too sponsored a lecture on Dengue prevention in Vavuniya, which was conducted at Vavuniya Kanesapuram Vinayakar Vidyalayam. More than 300 students from schools in the Vavuniya District along with their parents attended.

In a related activity, our branch members participated in a shramadana campaign to identify and eradicate mosquito breeding sites from the vicinity of the school.

Staff from our Head Office responded to the request of the Friends of Lady Ridgeway Hospital, by providing a donation towards alleviating the plight of children suffering from dengue.

Dimo also placed special emphasis on the disposal of waste and the monitoring of emission levels in respect of air, water and noise categories.

Through our stakeholder engagement processes, several expectations and needs of the community were identified.

Following an independent stakeholder engagement process, it was learnt that the local communities would like to see greater involvement from Dimo in providing job opportunities and uplifting education within their communities.

These issues have been comprehensively examined and discussed by the Group Sustainability Committee and we have already made arrangements to set targets and objectives to fulfil these expectations early.

The Dimo Automobile Training School (DATS) is our state-of-the-art training facility set up in 1990 at our workshop in Siyambalape. It is our flagship programme in respect of community development. The first school was joined in 2010 by a second, set up in Jaffna. Each school enrols students in batches of 16, selected via an entrance examination, to follow a two year world class comprehensive diploma course that covers all aspects of the automobile industry.

During their studies, the students are exposed to premier world brands such as Mercedes Benz, TATA and Bosch and have the added benefit of spending time with our Principals in Germany, where they are exposed to first-hand training in a high-tech environment.

During the training period, students receive subsidised meals, uniforms and footwear at Dimo’s cost and are also entitled to free medical facilities and insurance cover.

The 22nd batch of students at Siyambalape and the 3rd batch at Jaffna are undergoing training at present.

The two year course culminates with a competitive exam. The Dimo certificate is well recognised by both Sri Lankan and foreign engineering industries.

Depending on the availability of vacancies, graduates of DATS are offered positions at Dimo. However, there is no obligation whatsoever, for them to accept these positions – they are free to make their career choices as they desire.

In total, DATS has produced 32diploma holders, with 57 currently being trained. The Company has recruited 102while 51 have found employment in other establishments in Sri Lanka. Another 105 have found employment overseas.

Expenditure incurred on the two schools during the year 2012/13 amounted to Rs.22.11 mn, compared with Rs.16.6 mn spent in the previous financial year.

Vocational Training

Supporting technical and vocational education of youth is one of our identified areas of involvement with the community and Dimo continues to provide students from selected institutions with training on motor mechanism and repairs.

As practical knowledge is a requirement for students following diploma and degree courses as well, they too seek training in our facilities.

Dimo provides all such training on a voluntary basis.

During 2012/13, 154 students were provided with such vocational training compared with 101 students in 2011/12.

Students were enlisted for training from the following institutions:

• NAITA (National Apprentice & Industrial Training Authority
• Ceylon German Technical Training Institute
• University of Moratuwa
• University of Peradeniya
• University of Sri Jayawardenapura
• University of Kelaniya
• Vocational Training Authority of Sri Lanka
• Automobile Engineering Training Institute
• Ministry of Vocational & Technical Training
• The Open University of Sri Lanka
• CETRAC ( Construction Equipment Training Centre)
• Asian Aviation Centre (Pvt) Ltd

The Sinahawa (‘Smile’) Scholarship Programme

Sinahawa is a scholarship programme launched by the Tyre Division of Dimo targeting underprivileged GCE Advanced Level students. The programme was initiated in 2009 and ran for a period of 24 months and was completed in August 2012. It supported the needs of 100 students selected from all parts of the country via a short list of criteria prepared by the Smile team.

This programme was beneficial to the students who participated in it and was a remarkable success when you consider that 89% achieved the pass rate of 80% and 52% became eligible for University entrance (against the response rate). It is noteworthy also to mention that some of the high achievers from all G.C.E A/L streams from different parts of the country came from the ranks of our scholarship holders.

Lassana Hetak – 'English for Everyone in 2012'

Dimo Batta Lassana Hetak was an educational project launched by the Company’s TATA Commercial Vehicles Division on Children’s Day, October 2010. It was a scheme to teach and improve the command of the English Language of students who have no access to such instruction.

The programme ran in the Vijaya Kumaratunga Vidyalaya, Kuruwita, which is a co-ed school with around 470 students on roll, situated just 5 km away from our Kuruwita display point.

The project was targeted at students from Grades 1 to 11.

Initially, not having the expertise in-house, we sought the help of the British Council, Colombo who magnanimously helped by conducting a preliminary needs assessment, then selected and trained a group of teachers for the project, developed an additional language curriculum for the school and developed the course materials.

Eighteen teachers were recruited for the programme joining the two existing English teachers of the school.

The programme was completed in October 2012. Its success is evident when you consider the statistics which show a pass rate of 95% at the oral and written examinations held at the end of a period of two years. 65 classes were conducted per year and the average attendance of students per class was as high as 90%.

Approval is granted to continue the programme.

Dimo Technical Institute, Sooriyawewa, Hambantota

Dimo is in the process of setting up a Technical Institute as part of the ‘Naa Sevana’ Community Development Project in Sooriyawewa. The Institute envisaged will be a state-of-the-art driving and technical training school, offering theory and practical education in driving and operation of passenger and commercial vehicles, construction and earth moving equipment, material handling and agriculture machinery as well as their maintenance and repair.

The school will have accommodation facilities for students and instructors as well as a training track. Dimo’s Principals are chipping in with design, development and delivery of various training modules, as our objective is to meet international standards.

Through this facility, Dimo hopes to empower youth and equip them with internationally recognised training and expertise that will significantly advance their employability not just locally but overseas as well. It is expected that this education will drive their personal growth and economic well-being.

The Institute is expected to commence operations in May 2013.

Water Supply Projects

Students from the 22nd intake of the Dimo Automobile Training School carried out a school development project at the Nikaweratiya Mellagaswewa Primary School, to provide a water supply solution for the students.

Two similar water supply projects were provided – for the Ethugala Buduruwa premises and the Kurunegala Sandagala Special School.

Vehicles for the Self-Employed

The Company has made available its Dimo Batta trucks to the Government at a specially subsidised price, for distribution amongst self-employed persons. The trucks were handed over to the new owners at the Government’s ‘Divi Neguma’ event held on 5th September 2012.

Kapruka Programme

The Coconut Development and Janatha Estate Development Board/Ministry has commenced the Kapruka Purawara programme with the objective of assisting the coconut industry through the productivity enhancement of selected coconut lands in identified divisional secretariats thus generating new employment opportunities and through the establishment of an Industrial Zone related to coconut and value added products of coconut.

One of the main concerns that the members of the Kapruka Societies faced was the transportation of raw material and finished goods. Therefore to overcome this problem, DIMO Batta vehicles were chosen to provide the transportation solution for the members of the Kapruka societies and a special application was developed which will suit the requirement of the owners.

Safe Transport for School Children

A customer meet was conducted among school van operators on the subject of ensuring the safety of school children. The objectives of this promotion were reinforced through the use of LCV buses to transport school children.

Nutrition and Health Related Activities

Dimo Kurunegala branch sponsored a children’s ‘Nutrition and Good Food Habits’ event at Ariyagama Siddhartha Maha Vidyalaya, Mugunuwatawana. Over 320 school children participated. A special lecture on Dengue Prevention was also delivered.

The Principal and the MOH, Chilaw were in attendance along with Dimo personnel.

Our Jaffna branch sponsored a dengue prevention lecture which was held at the Vavuniya Kanesapuram Vinayakar Vidyalayam. It drew 300 students from schools in and around Vavuniya. The lecturer was the PHI for Vavuniya.

Our branch members also engaged in a shramadana campaign to rid the school precincts of mosquito breeding locations.

Socio-Cultural

Members of the Dimo Jaffna Branch celebrated Thai Pongal in Janury 2013 fully partaking of the spirit of the festival with Dimo customers, members of the banks and leasing companies at the branch premises.

Donating for Education

Educational literature including story books was distributed on 2nd November 2012 at Head Office premises for all employees and outsourced employees.

Career and Trade Fairs

Dimo’s HR Department participated at several career fairs during the year under review. Their focus and presentations were on ‘Employer Branding’ – introducing Dimo as a great place to work and an employer of choice. They were able to interact with students of the following institutions that organised the fairs –

• University of Kelaniya
• Automobile Engineering Training Institute – Orugodawatte
• German Technical Training Institute – Moratuwa
• Educational exhibition
• Skill College of Technologies – Colombo/Kandy
• Technical College – Kurunegala
• Electrical & Electronic Job Fair 2012

Dimo also took part in the 4th edition of the Jaffna International Trade Fair held in January 2013. The Company was the Gold sponsor for the event and had a sizeable presence and visibility at the fair.

All our top Principals’ brands were represented and collectively, the business units handling the brands made sure that the approximately 60,000 visitors had ample exposure and access to the Dimo contribution.

In Summary

Dimo has spent substantial time and financial resources on various projects conducted in service to the community.

With regard to the Nikaweratiya Mellagaswewa School project, our DATS students spent 6,432 man hours for the year.

Our Anuradhapura branch staff spent 64 man hours on the refurbishing work at St. Joseph’s College.

Dimo staff spent 660 man hours on the Turtle Conservation Project.

A total of 65 man hours was spent on the shramadana campaign for dengue prevention at Vavuniya, Kanesapuram Vinayakar Vidyalayam.

In addition to the projects mentioned above, Dimo has donated Rs. 50.52 mn during 2012/13 for CSR projects, and charitable causes across the country. This represents 11% of profit after tax. In certain instances funding was matched through voluntary fund raising on the part of our staff. The chart below gives the details:

Anti-Corruption

Dimo professes a zero tolerance policy on corruption. The Group does not countenance ethically unsound or corrupt practices on the part of our business partners either. Our Code of Conduct and Ethics contains many specific clauses which cover a wide range of situations that could arise when dealing with different stakeholder groups.

The Code is explained to and understood by all employees and they are required to scrupulously abide by these guidelines.

There were no incidents of corruption reported during the year under review.

Anti-Competitive Behaviour

Dimo does not engage in anti-competitive behaviour. No legal action has been instituted against the Dimo Group regarding this.

Public Policy

We work closely with regulatory and non-regulatory authorities in different sectors to support them in their development efforts. We hold membership in several national and international that play an important thought leadership role concerning the different business sectors we are engaged in.