Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and National Food Security, Dr. Reginald Thomas, aims to build capacity among his staff to improve the delivery of services to the general public.
He was speaking in the context of a national training on the safe use of pesticides which opened at Morne Bruce recently.
The training is a regional pesticide management project being conducted in various Caribbean countries for the past four years and which Dominica is part of.
It is being undertaken in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to keep pesticides inspection officers and environmental health workers, among others, updated and knowledgeable.
Thomas said he specifically stressed on the public because there is a notion that pesticides are only used in agriculture.
“We want to dispel this notion today as the use of pesticides of toxic chemicals spans most of the society from households, building sites [and] commercial buildings,” he stated
The Ministry of Agriculture Official said it is generally understood that pesticides play a vital role in our national food system to protect crops and livestock from pests and diseases, however, these same pesticides in many instances contribute negatively to the environment and human health.
“These impacts are [a] direct result of indiscriminate use, improper handling, labeling and storage,” he stated.
Thomas noted that as a result of these existing issues, the need to increase the capacity of the ministry is relevant and necessary.
“The ministry, understanding its vital role and mandate for national food production and food safety, is working with vigour to enhance food safety and environmental sustainability,” he said.
Meantime, FAO consultant, Dr. Therese Yarde, said although the project is a regional roll-out of training, the organization is focusing on national capacity building.
“The manual that is being developed…is a regional manual on pesticides inspection and control and because it is regional, it takes a broad overview in terms of the context, legislation, capacity and the administrative framework for inspection…from country to country,” she explained.
Yarde pointed out that the set up for pesticide inspection is different within each country, therefore, the FAO decided that it would beneficial to take the workshops out on a national level so that the training could take place firmly in the national context.
She said this will allow the persons who are involved in pesticides management to share their knowledge with others.
My comment has nothing to do with the article. I just want the government to take a better look at its training facilities.
Look at them! Incompetence of highest order! …and they still dare to show their faces. Bold as brass these people are, no shame!
Talking Parrot….I agree with you. To much damn talk….and the treadmill just there. I hope the PS bring those parrots back.
Is that ministry even alive? What about empowering the young people in taking the initiative to go into farming. Glorify the agriculture industry so that young men and women won’t see it as a degrading profession. Give duty free concessions on tractors 🚜 and other ploughing machinery which would make their work easier. Finally make lands much more accessible to new farmers and existing farmers who plan on extending their horizon. And finally for the love of everything good, ban gramaxzone. Instruct importers on proper pesticides To import into dca. Chapter in book closed
DNO next subject please because I really cannot take that talk, talk, talk and more talk with that lazy and visionless administration that only know how to talk