Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 21, 2014 (SKNIS): The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis continues to promote Bio-safety practices within the Federation, as seen in a public awareness drive that was conducted in Nevis.
On Tuesday (February 18), a team of four staff members in the Department of Physical Planning and Environment from the Ministry of Sustainable Development in St. Kitts travelled to Nevis as part of the initiative of implementing a National Bio-safety Framework in the Caribbean Sub-Region.
Environmental Education Officer in the Department of Physical Planning and Environment, Derionne Edmeade gave an overview of what took place in Nevis.
“During the visitation to schools, students were shown a video presentation which provided background information on the Cartagena Protocol on Bio-safety, potential risk and benefits associated with the transfer, as well as handling and use of products of Modern Biotechnology,” he outlined. “The presentation was followed by a question and answer segment.”
According to Mr. Edmeade, the project is funded by the Global Environment Fund (GEF), while the United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP), - the GEF Implementing Agency for this project,- is responsible for overall project oversight and performance appraisal.
“The University of the West Indies (UWI) was selected amongst several institutions to act as the project’s Lead Executing Agency (LEA),” he said. “As LEA, UWI will manage all project operations and administration, including financial book-keeping, contracting, procurement, organization of events and reporting to UNEP.”
The Ministry of Sustainable Development who is the National Executing Agency (NEA) is responsible for implementing the project’s national-level work programmes, providing feedback on project progress at the national-level, including obstacles faced, and will participate in the Regional Steering Committee.
The project’s primary objective is to implement effective, operable, transparent and sustainable National Bio-safety Frameworks which cater for national and regional needs, deliver global benefits and are compliant with the Cartagena Protocol on Bio-safety.
The Biosafety project which was introduced in 2011 will run for four years and is expected to be completed in 2015.
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