How GOJ JA$30 million for UWI Research into Sea Sponges is better spent on Energy Solutions

“A special sponge has been found underwater at Port Royal by the university that is now being developed as an anti-cancer agent and it carries the name Port Royal. For me, that is just great”

Minister of sports, culture, entertainment and gender affairs, Olivia Grange, at the University of the West Indies, Mona, 19th staging of its Research Days opening ceremony on Wednesday February 7^th 2018

Who knew that sea sponges can possibly be a part of the fight against cancer?

Apparently that sea sponge, which has been found underwater in Port Royal is worth JA$30 million in research money as noted in the article “Research On Special Sea Sponge Could Hold Vital Anti-Cancer Properties”, published Friday February 9, 2018 by Paul Clark, The Jamaica Gleaner.

This allocation, which is a part of an agreement on research and development between Jamaica and South Africa in the areas of indigenous knowledge and water research, has been set aside for the next three (3) years to fund such ventures.

This was revealed by Minister of sports, culture, entertainment and gender affairs, Olivia Grange, at the University of the West Indies, Mona, 19th staging of its Research Days opening ceremony on Wednesday February 7^th 2018.

The sea sponge (Porifera) is basically a simplest multicellular living organisms that grow in all different shapes, sizes, colours, and textures. The name, which literally means “pore-bearing” refers to the countless tiny openings or holes visible on all sponges.

She also mentioned that the UWI, Mona, was betting on researchers at UWI to come up with more money making ideas that could benefit the government, quote: “As we seek to cement a growth doctrine in our society, the university must ensure that its research modalities continue to enlighten and mould socio-economic policies, which are readily adaptable to the needs of our society”.

But is this the best way to spend Government resources?

Government and Research - Focus should be on Energy

Apparently, this is a global thing, as Government, Private Sector and Universities with the research facilities have been collaborating in this way.

 The Government merely is seeking to partner, fund and benefit when the research is commercially applicable, quote: “The Government also plays a key role in facilitating development of a research and development ecosystem, and as our fiscal space improves, we will continue to commit additional funding for research”.

However, Energy, not health should be our focus, as lifestyle changes will improve health.

The prevalence of lifestyle disease such as cancer, heart attack and stroke are linked to the type and amount of food we eat.

This is especially true of fast foods and foods with added sugars that are consumed by children and may be linked to ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) in children as noted in my MICO Wars blog article entitled “How to Spot Hidden Sugar and How to Avoid Eating Too Much”. 

The sale of unregulated Bag juice should be the government focus along with more Agricultural Gardens in High schools as pointed out in my blog article entitled “Why Ministry of Education must support School Gardens as Sugar in Bag Juice linked to Lifestyle Diseases”.

Hopefully, too, they'll expand on the research done by UWI and UTECH on the use of Hydrogen as a Cooking Gas substitute as that would reduce our dependence on imported fuel as noted in my blog article entitled “Why UTECH, GOJ and UWI developing Hydrogen Cooking Gas Cylinders for Hydrogen-Electron Economy”. 

We can even go further and make Hydrogen into Hydrogen fuel cells to be use in Electric Vehicles as explained in my blog article entitled “UTECH and Hydrogen as Cooking Gas – How Hydride Salts make Hydrogen Cooking Gas and Fuel Cells possible”.

No to mention producing Hydrogen for export via using excess Wind energy to convert seawater, with the extracted salts being sold as a value-added product as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled “How PCJ Offshore Windfarm may be used to export Hydrogen and Uranium”. 

So stay tuned for more articles on University of the West Indies, Mona, 19th staging of its Research Days!!