Ghacem Limited has selected five proposals in the 3rd edition of the Quarry Life Award (QLA) competition, from a shortlist of 35 other project proposals.

The five finalists and their respective projects were selected by a jury for this year’s competition.

The finalists are Masen Koranteng (from the University of Ghana-Legon), Daniel Cudjoe (Final year student from the University of Mines and Technology – UMAT), Michael Owusu-Tweneboah (Mphil Student-UMAT, Jonas Dwomoh (Final year Student- UMAT) and Emmanuel Taye (BSc. Animal Biology and Conservation Science, University of Ghana).

They will represent Ghana at the international competition.

At an orientation ceremony held in Accra and attended by Ghacem’s QLA National Executives including the National Jury members, it was announced that the five would be provided with a seed money of € 500 each to start work on their projects immediately.

The QLA is a competition organised by Heidelberg Cement (HC) Group and its subsidiaries across the globe, including Ghacem Company of Ghana, to source ideas towards the effective regeneration and management of biodiversity in its mining sites across the world.

It seeks and rewards the most effective ideas on possible ways to reclaim lands in areas where the HC Group operates globally.

The top five top projects of the award scheme from each country are selected to compete at the international level.

The first two editions held in 2012 and 2014 respectively saw Ghana’s representatives, Mr. Paul K. Nsiah, of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) emerge second at the international competition whiles Kwasi Boadu Ntiamoah (UMAT), won the best innovation in biodiversity.

He also won the award for International public votes with over 25,000 votes.

The QLA Communications Coordinator, Mr. Solomon Ayiah, announced that the project which runs from now to September will entail a lot of work including site visits, engagement with key stakeholders such as communities around the quarry sites and the teams on the quarry sites

“As a known fact, Ghana stands tall with an enviable record in the first two editions of the competitions, as such as a team our target is to win the overall global award” he said   

The QLA National Coordinator, Ing. Kwabena Labi Addo in a welcome address briefed the participants on the Environment Health and Safety rules at the various quarry sites and urged the contestants to confront their projects with the needed seriousness, expressing optimism that with the practicability of this year’s projects Ghana will produce an international winner.

Sharing their views on the proposals, a jury member, Mr. Yaw Kwakye, of the Climate Change Unit of the Forestry Commission, noted that the selected proposals as very interesting and development oriented “which should be the direction every research should go”.

“The five proposals have great potential and we believe with a little bit of support they can be guided to come out with something that can give Ghana special recognition at the world stage” he said

Dr. Erasmus Owusu, a Conservative Biologist, who is both a national and an international jury member, urged the participants to submit themselves to proper coaching.

 “Whatever input we make should be taken seriously so you can improve on your proposals,” he urged.

Project titles

The following are the title of five selected projects:

 Masen Koranteng (Geospatial Analysis of biodiversity changes in and around the Yonqwa Quarry site)

Daniel Cudjoe (Restoration of Biodiversity using Voandzeia subterranean (Bambara beans)

Michael Owusu-Tweneboah (Determination of the Best Soil Enrichment Method using ANOVA Technique)

Jonas Dwomoh (Slope Wall Stability and Biodiversity Promotion: The Use of Gramineae-Bambusoideae(bamboo)– A Case Study at Yongwa Quarry), and

Emmanuel Taye (Impacts of Quarry Dust on Water Resource and its Effect on Biodiversity: The Odonata Assessment.