Cement firm awards mining researchers for good work.

National Environmental Council director of environmental impact assessment Ignace Mchallo (2nd-L), hands over a dummy cheque for euros 5,000 to first researcher in Quarry Life Award Leonard Gastory Lugali in Dar es Salaam yesterday. Looking on (from L) are Tanzania Portland Cement Company finance and administration director Ignatius Asare, environmental manager Julieth Tibaijuka, senior environmental officer David Mwakalobo and HeidelbergCement Group biodiversity and natural resources manager Dr Michael Rademacher. The award is organized and sponsored by the cement firm. (Photo: Guardian Photographer)

Three students have been awarded cash prizes worth euro 10,000 after emerged winners in the first Quarry Life Award competition launched by the Tanzania Portland Cement Company (TPCC).

A press statement issued by the company yesterday mentioned the first winner as Leonard Gastory Lugali, whose project was titled “Integrated Constructed Wetland for Wastewater Treatment, Nutrient Recovery and Quarry Re-naturalisation” who pocketed euro 5,000.

The second winners were David Maleko and Eliya Mtupile whose project was titled: “The Potential of Leucaena Leucocephala Pioneer Trees and Cenchrus Ciliaris Understory Grass Species in Soil Improvement and Forage Production at the Wazo Hill Quarry. They were awarded euro 3,500 by the cement firm, the statement said.

The third award--euro 1,500 cash, went to third winners Kelvin Ngongolo and Samuel Mtoka from the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, Kingupira Wildlife Research Centre whose project was titled: “Can Revegetation of Wazo Hill Quarry Increase Butterfly Species Diversity and Abundance?”

According to the statement over 30 project proposals were submitted to the firm by students and researchers from various institutes in Tanzania, and the top 5 project proposals were selected by a national jury members to proceed to the next stage to develop project reports.

The competition came to a close on September 28, this year, in which the top five project reports were evaluated again by the national jury members based on the criteria developed by the group to select the top three reports.

According to the statement, the second chapter of the competition will take place again next year, as the cement firm and the Heidelberg Group strive to make nature the biggest winner.

The main aim of the competition which was launched last year was to boost mining ecology and biodiversity; to increase stakeholders’ awareness on the biological value of mining sites and to increase collaboration with the surrounding and external community.