The University of the West Indies, Mona and the Water Resources Authority (WRA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to improve knowledge of water resources in the island, and enhance staff and institutional capacity in the water and education sectors. This will be done through research and development in water resources planning, management, and development.

Under the terms of the MOU, The UWI, Mona in collaboration with the WRA will: identify and formulate water resources research projects; prepare proposals for funding of water resources research projects; seek funding to facilitate projects and cooperate with the WRA on public education programmes, especially in the areas of disaster management and climate change impacts on water resources, using research data to highlight water resources problems and recommend solutions.  It will also provide the WRA with information from its research base for collaborative projects, and trained personnel to augment its professional staff. The UWI, Mona will also identify students for projects to build capacity and institutional building in the water and education sectors, while addressing manpower needs at the WRA.

In addition, the WRA will involve students in projects to ensure capacity and institutional building in the water and education sectors; assist with supervision of students in carrying out projects at all levels in collaboration with The UWI and provide relevant data to The UWI to facilitate research.
   
Speaking at the signing, at the UWI, Minister of Water and Housing, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, said water is one of the critical elements in the development process and is an indicator of the quality of life, but there are not enough experts in this field. “Being a small country, we need to ensure that the entire body of experts and knowledge come together in a collaborative effort, to ensure we can make the kind of decisions required, with the best advice and guidance required,” he said.    
Dr. Chang added that the UWI student body and its academic research will benefit from the collaboration, and the WRA’s work. He noted that climate change is topical and the country must make some critical decisions as it relates to resource, and management of water, and related resources.

“That’s why this collaborative effort is of major significance now. Much work has been done over the years in the department of geology and geography, but a lot of times the university is accused of its research being above the heads of everyone – but it is now the responsibility of agencies, such as the WRA and policy-makers to ensure that this body of research is related to the practical day to day affairs of the country,” Minister Chang argued.

UWI, Mona Principal, Professor Gordon Shirley lauded the collaborative effort, noting that “managing water in the short, medium and long term really requires the development of know-how and systemic analysis.”   He said the WRA has this know-how and that “when we combine it with the kinds of capacities that we have here in the faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, and the Department of Geology and Geography, and the work that is being done with the Mona Geo-Informatics group, there is enormous potential.”

He noted that The UWI, Mona has acted “very quickly” to partner with the WRA in this sharing of research information, and identifying the kinds of projects that would take the agency’s agenda forward. The Principal also highlighted the fact that the collaboration will provide students with the opportunity to work on real projects through internships, which would help them to understand how to leverage their knowledge in assisting with nation building.

In his remarks, Chairman of the WRA, Dr. Parris Lyew-Ayee, Jnr stressed the importance of the programme being a university-wide one, as the research components extend beyond the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences to economics, and public health, among other areas.
 
“We need to continue to supply excellent graduates from the UWI to continue to help Jamaica,” Dr. Ayee said, noting the need for more hydrologists, hydrogeologists, and related professionals, in order to secure the continuity of the island’s water resources programme.