Stakeholders in the Central River Region recently gathered at the governor’s bantaba in Janjanbureh to discuss proper handing and management of pesticides.
Organised by the National Environmental Agency (NEA), the programme was supported by Global Harmonization System (GHs).
Speaking at the forum, Ablie F.S. Kolley, Environmental Inspector of the NEA, underscored the significance of the event.
Pesticides handling and management is a problem, especially in terms of labelling the products, he said, adding that most people dealing with pesticides illegally “are not literate and may not know the safety precautions and their methods of application”.
According to Mr Kolley, the agency has designated inspectors from all relevant stakeholders including health, community development, and agriculture working closely with the regional offices to ensure that pesticides are properly handled and managed.
For her part, Ms Adam Cessay, programme officer for Environmental Quality, stated that the concept of global harmonization system is to harmonise the classification of chemicals.
Muhammed Leroy Gomez, programme officer environmental education and communication officer with the NEA, spoke at length on the importance of the meeting.
He said the NEA regional offices are in close contact with the stakeholders, adding that they have joined the scheme of monitoring and pesticides handling and management across the regions.
Fafanding K. Kinteh, CRR regional programme officer of the NEA, stated that there are different kinds of pesticides that are used at homes and on farms some of which could be “very dangerous if not handled and managed properly”.
The governor’s representative at the occasion, Lolly Camara, delivered the closing remarks on the occasion.
