Alpha Infant, St. Jago Cathedral Preparatory and Waterford High have emerged winners in the Urban Development Corporation’s (UDC) “2014 Hellshire Schools Enviro Competition”. The winning schools copped trophies and cash prizes valued at $25,000 each and passes to the Biodiversity Centre at the Port Royal Marine Lab, Dunn’s River Falls and Park and Green Grotto Caves. The awards were presented recently at the inaugural Crocodile Conservation Fair organised by the Jamaica Crocodile Working Group at the Hope Zoo, St. Andrew
The Hellshire Schools Enviro Competition is open to students from infant, primary and secondary schools from Kingston and St. Andrew and St. Catherine and is aimed at encouraging eco-friendly practices, environmental awareness and empowerment among young people and communities. This year 19 schools participated in the competition submitting 23 projects. Students, guided by their teachers, were required to implement viable environmental projects starting from October 2013. The foci of projects this year included recycling of tyres, bottles, compost heaps, organic farming, climate change, glue from fish scales, biogas and solar energy.
Alpha Infant’s winning project focused on recycled tyres for use in the children’s playground, which was not available for use before the recycling project was implemented, St. Jago Cathedral Preparatory focused on climate change and Waterford’s High’s project focused on the creation of Solar water bottle light bulbs being used to power classrooms.
More than one thousand patrons, including students from infant, primary and secondary schools from Kingston and St. Andrew and St Catherine turned out to support the Fair which was aimed at encouraging eco-friendly practices and environmental awareness. The event also focused on increasing awareness of the importance of crocodiles which help to clean the mangroves thus ensuring the continuation of a healthy fish population
This year the combined event enjoyed sponsorship from other entities inclusive of National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), Hope Zoo Preservation Foundation, Tourism Enhancement Fund, Palladium Lady Hamilton Resort and Spa, Jamaica Public Service, Caribbean Coastal Area Management and Port Royal Marine Labs, , Port Authority of Jamaica, Barita Investments, Hot Off the Press, Fly Jamaica, Print Now, Riu Ocho Rios, Palace Amusement, Subaru Owners Club of Jamaica, J. Charles Swaby Black River Safari, Victoria Mutual, Palace Amusement and IGL Blue.
The UDC hosted the inaugural Hellshire Enviro Fair during May 2007 and organized the Hellshire Schools Enviro Competition for the first time during 2008.