The Ministry of Agriculture’s Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals Control Board (PTCCB) on Tuesday held a graduation and awards ceremony for persons who participated in the board’s pest application and management training exercise.
Through the training, 23 persons are now equipped with the knowledge on how to properly manage and use pesticides and other chemicals.
PTCCB Chairman Mr. Leslie Munroe, said the training was done as part of board regulations, as persons must be certified if they are interested in the field.
“Training is one of the hallmarks of the board’s activities. The people who are graduating this morning, they would have gone through some training for them to understand the nature of the work they are doing, to understand the substances that they use,” he said.
Graduates noted the benefit of the training to their respective fields.
Ms. Deana Walcott said she is looking forward to the next level of training.
“That training went really well. The information was fed and we had the chance and opportunity to ask questions and to have our questions answered immediately. All of the materials were sent to us, and so I really enjoyed the training and I’m looking forward to the next level,” she said.
Mr. Vishernauth Dhanpat also shared similar sentiments.
“The course enlightened me or broadened my knowledge on how to handle pesticides, because I am working in an agricultural institution and one of our activities is chemical weed control, whereby we use herbicides to control weeds in estate locations, and in doing so, you need to practice safe herbicide handling in line with the regulation and legislation of the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha who was in attendance told the graduates that the skills gained from the training will aid in the overall development of the country, because the use of pesticides is necessary in various productive sectors.
“You will not only be serving the agriculture (sector), you will be serving all the sectors that need guidance, that need to use these chemicals and you as the applicators, you are the persons who will ensure that these things are used in a safe way. You will be responsible to ensure that these sectors develop,” the minister said.
Minister Mustapha further added that the graduates should now be able to educate the general public on the knowledge gained.
