100 schools vie for $100,000 top prize

Within recent years, unregulated anthropogenic activity has served to compromise the health of rivers and watersheds throughout T&T. This was the grim scenario painted by acting CEO of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), Gerard Yorke, at the launch of the authority’s third annual National Secondary Schools Quiz Competition themed In the Know with H2O: Adopt A River. The event was held at the WASA’s public education centre, Farm Road, St Joseph, last week.

Yorke said the quiz competition brought to light significant issues related to rivers and watersheds which must be addressed nationally with input from all citizens. A total of 100 schools throughout T&T have registered to vie for the top prize of $100,000 and the champions trophy. As in the previous two years of the quiz competition the second and third place winners will also be rewarded with prizes of $50,000 and $25,000 respectively.

In a statement from WASA,  said several scientific studies have revealed deforestation, illegal water abstraction, poor mineral extraction and agricultural practices, improper waste disposal, indiscriminate dumping, unplanned developments as well as the illegal damming of rivers are undermining the integrity of the country’s water resources.

He said these activities threatened the authority’s long-term goals of being able to provide citizens with a daily supply of high quality water in an efficient and cost effective manner. This year’s competition was in support of the authority’s Adopt A River initiative aimed to facilitate monitoring, clean-up and enhancement of rivers in T&T.

The overall objective of the programme is to bring awareness to local watershed issues and to facilitate the participation of public and private sector entities in sustainable and holistic projects aimed at improving the status of rivers and their watersheds. In the competition, which officially began on Monday, students would be required to demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the key elements and issues pertaining to rivers and watersheds.