Mauritius: A one-day Consultative Inception Workshop on Implementing Sustainable Low and Non-Chemical Development in Small Island Developing States (ISLANDS) Project was launched today in the presence of the Minister of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change, Kavydass Ramano, at the Caudan Arts Centre in Port Louis.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative for Mauritius, Amanda Serumaga, was also present at this initiative of the Ministry of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change and the UNDP.
In his keynote address, Minister Ramano highlighted that the ISLANDS programme, funded under the Global Environment Facility (GEF-7), has as its main objectives to prevent the build-up of materials and harmful chemicals such as Persistent Organic Pollutants and mercury entering SIDS; and to safely manage and dispose of existing harmful chemicals, products and materials.
He indicated that it will also help protect human health and the environment from the harmful effects of hazardous chemicals and wastes and ensure a safer waste management system.
He remarked that as SIDS continue to progress, the quantities and variety of products, especially highly hazardous chemicals, that are being imported are rapidly increasing. This, he observed, is leading to a large variety of hazardous and toxic wastes for which SIDS need the technical capacity, infrastructure and critical mass to deal with.
He stressed that the sound management of chemicals and hazardous wastes is critical to the implementation of sustainable development in SIDS.
Regarding Mauritius, the Minister underscored the ISLANDS project will facilitate the disposal of harmful chemicals and materials in an environmentally sound manner and establish more effective circular and life-cycle management systems to prevent the build-up of harmful materials and chemicals.
Besides, he added that the ISLANDS Project also aims to foster compliance with the Chemical Related Conventions to which Mauritius is a party, namely the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
Government emphasised Minister Ramano, invested massively in constructing an interim hazardous waste storage facility. Mauritius is today one of the few SIDS to benefit from such a facility for the collection, handling and management of hazardous wastes. More than 2500 tonnes of hazardous wastes, including wastes from the Wakashio incident, have been stored in an environmentally sound manner, he informed.
Moreover, he underlined that the Waste Management and Resource Recovery Act, promulgated in April this year, plays a pivotal role in the implementation of the waste management component of our Resource Recovery Strategy and Action Plan. He added that the legislative framework will enable this shift from a linear approach into a circular economy model in the waste sector.
Minister Ramano is confident that the project will reinforce regional collaboration in the Indian Ocean region and enable a coordinated approach towards the establishment of a regional initiative to support the assessment and introduction of safer and greener alternatives in key supply chains.
For her part, Serumaga underlined the need for environmentally sound management of municipal and hazardous solid waste to reduce the emission of unintentional POPs and protect the population’s health.
She further commended the initiatives of the Government aimed at better protecting the health of people and the environment and reiterated UNDP’s commitment to supporting countries to achieve Sustainable Development Goals and address chemical and waste issues.