The Alumina Partners of Jamaica (Alpart) last week presented scholarships valued at $620,000 to seven students pursuing undergraduate studies at local tertiary institutions.

Khandi Ford from Rose Hall, St Elizabeth, was among the students who received scholarships to attend the University of the West Indies. Ford, who received the Earle Howard Scholarship, will pursue studies in international relations at the university.

The other awards for studies at UWI were presented to Keron King of Ellen Street, Manchester – humanities, and Omar Wellington from Downs, St Elizabeth for studies in medicine.

Venroy Watson of Thornton, St Elizabeth, received an engineering scholarship for the University of Technology (UTECH), while Saran Robinson of Comma Penn, St Elizabeth, was awarded a business management scholarship to the Northern Caribbean University (NCU).

The Alpart Community Council scholarship to attend the College of Agriculture (CASE) was presented to Odean Bradshaw of Comma Penn, and a scholarship to GC Foster College was presented to Kenya Hanson from Goshen, St Elizabeth.

Alpart’s director of administration, Robert McKay, said that the agricultural scholarship was significant as the company operated in a community where agriculture was an important economic activity.

McKay said that the complete scholarship package would be in operation for an initial period of ten years, and would represent a total investment of $15,780,000.

The individual scholarships are worth $300,000 each at university level for three years and $120,000 each at college level for two years.

The bauxite company’s general manager, Darrel Harriman, said the scholarships were “expressions of the company’s commitment to youth development in its operating area communities”.

He said that the company would continue to maintain its focus on education as the key to national progress.