It was, most definitely, a signature event where excellence in academia, sports, business and community service, was recognised and rewarded.
For the past ten years, the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation has been highlighting the achievement of excellence of those who reside in the area.
Among the 107 recipients to whom they paid homage on Saturday night, were the top performing SEA student, Rebecca Ann Jattan and one of the two winners of the President's Gold Medal, Marcus Isaac Belasco, as well Shiva Boys which brought home, for the first time, the prestigious South Zone Intercol title, Intercol girls champion Debe High and Parvati Girls' Hindu College the 2012 RBC Young Leaders winner.
The south National Academy for the Performing Arts (Napa) was chosen as the venue for the celebration, where the outstanding boys and girls, their teachers, PDRC retirees, and members of the community who continue to dedicate their lives to service to country, took to the stage to receive their awards. Guest artiste Avinash Maharaj, a 13-year old student of Naparima College, who has recorded 20 songs over the past six years, was among the recipients for community service.
PDRC Chairman Premchand Sookoo said in addition to the two top academics, 30 of the top 100 students who won national acclaim by their academic achievements at the Secondary Entrance Assessment and 57 who received national scholarships, based on the CAPE Advanced Level examination, also came from the region.
"You have embodied the ideals of success that should be promoted throughout the region. Your dedication and hard work is a shinning example to all those who wish to follow in your footsteps," Sookoo remarked.
Jattan, who responded on behalf of the awardees said she was proud to be from the Penal Debe region and reminded the other recipients, to keep their values and never forget where they came from."Gratitude and humility are the hallmarks of a great individual," she noted.
Guest speaker, Local Government Minister Dr Suruj Rambachan said it was important for organisations like the PDRC to recognise and reward those, who by their discipline, and personal sacrifice brought such illustrious acclaim to the region.
"The success of the nation reside not in oil and gas, that we have in the ground, it resides not in the physical factories and buildings we have built, it resides in our people, it resides in their talents," Rambachan said.