Eight inspection officers have officially been appointed by the cabinet of Dominica to manage the use of pesticides on the island.
The seven-man, one-woman team, which was officially introduced to the public earlier this week includes Inspector Stanton Guiste, Isabella John, Jason Bruno, Keston Williams, Limbert Smith, Egbert Nelson, Asher Burton, and Hilroy Alfred.
Chairman of the Pesticide Control Board, Ricky Brumant, pointed out that according to the Pesticide Control Act # 15 of 1974, the roles of these new inspectors are to conduct an inspection of all land or premises to which the Act applies; require the production of and may inspect, examine and copy registers, records or other documents; make examinations and inquiries to discover whether this Act and the Regulations obtain compliance and seize and detain any article by means of which or in relation to which he/she reasonably believes any provision of the Act or Regulations have been violated.
He gave the assurance that this new team will continue to work with the private sector entities particularly the supermarkets, farmers, and service providers where pesticide importation and overall sales are concerned.
Chief Pesticide Inspector Joseph Blanford, who, for over 20 years, has been the only inspection officer on the island, welcomed the much-needed addition and noted that they will play a key role in assisting to effectively manage the operations as it relates to pesticides in the country.
“Gone were the days when I had to cover the whole of the island; it’s not easy, having to inspect all of these agricultural areas,” he revealed. “We understand the porosity of our borders so things can slip in from the back door and that is of concern to us and part of our regulations, for any pesticide to be used in Dominica, they should be registered with the pesticide control board and [as] part of the requirement, they must be labeled in English.”
He said the additional responsibility of this team is to monitor the importation, the distinction, the use and also of the disposal of empty pesticide containers and also, as much as possible, to train farmers, students, and persons that are involved in the use and handling of those pesticide products.
“The additional eight inspects will strengthen the inspector rate and enable us to carry out our duties much more effectively and give us a better opportunity to control some of the misuses of pesticides on the island,” Blandford stressed.
The Chief Pesticides Inspector gave the assurance that they will ensure that the chemicals used for vector control will be safe for the people that are exposed to the particular pesticides and will not pose any adverse effects both in terms of the humans as well as their pets.
Commending the new team, Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr. Laura Esprit, labeled their engagement at the present moment as timely especially with the drive to grow more local and healthy food as well as the increasing need to be more vigilant in the management of chemical hazards.
She implored the men and women inspectors, “to do what you are trained to do and do it well, with no compromise to the established standards of your field, to maintain the code of conduct and the guidelines of pesticide management and control”
what’s the point of the picture?
Pesticides – Nature Island
Chemicals – Eco tourism
Conservation – beating a stranded shark to death
Bit of an identity crisis going on here ?
hahahaha true
especially the BEATING UP THE SHARK part
sick set of people.
nature island my…..
I like that move it will help to protect the health of the people good job.
Long overdue but step in the right direction. You guys have a lot of work in to do in compiling records and data so the use of pesticides can be effectively managed. I think years of lack of oversight is already showing its ugly face in our health care system