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The Minister of Environment, Flavien Joubert launched “Implementing Sustainable Low and Non-Chemical Development in SIDS (ISLANDS)” a five-year project, costing the UNDP and Global Environment Fund (GEF) over $2 million, which will mainly aim at tackling hazardous waste and chemicals in Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean. The minister explained that this project was not only aimed at the current generation but at future generations and the environment.
The Minister of Environment, Flavien Joubert launched “Implementing Sustainable Low and Non-Chemical Development in SIDS (ISLANDS)” a five-year project, costing the UNDP and Global Environment Fund (GEF) over $2 million, which will mainly aim at tackling hazardous waste and chemicals in Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean. The minister explained that this project was not only aimed at the current generation but at future generations and the environment.
Top environmental officials in Seychelles are urging local partners to consider new projects to safely dispose of chemical waste as more than part of their jobs as the outcome is far-reaching. This will be through strengthening institutional mechanisms and capacity to manage hazardous chemicals and wastes, the development of new chemical and waste legislation, and implementing national and regional recycling schemes among others.
Although Seychelles is not an important importer or manufacturer of these pesticides, the country supported the international community in these endeavours and banned the importation of these chemicals in our law, said Joubert. Seychelles’ involvement in the project is part of the Indian Ocean Regional Project that the UNDP is holding in small island developing states (SIDS) in the region including the Comoros, Maldives, and Mauritius. The UNDP is funding the regional project for the sum of over $12 million.
Nanette Laure, director general of waste, enforcement, and permits, told reporters that taking part in this UNDP initiative will help the SIDS prevent the future build-up of materials and chemicals entering SIDS that contain POPs and mercury, and other harmful chemicals. The ultimate objective of the project is to protect human health and the environment from the harmful effects of hazardous chemicals and wastes,” she explained.
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GEF ISLANDS Programme also contains global coordination – where other SIDS in the world taking part may share knowledge and experiences across all regions to address the issue of chemicals and wastes. Seychelles is already a party to the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions, which are multilateral environmental agreements. They share the common objective of protecting human health and the environment from hazardous chemicals and waste.
It is estimated that 50,000 tonnes of waste are generated in Seychelles annually. The recent fires at the landfill highlight the importance and the urgency for improved waste disposal and management practices, said a UNDP official, Ndeye Maty Cisse, further cementing the reasons for the project.
