Experts Workshop on Environmentally Sound Technologies for Integrated Waste Management for Caribbean Small Island Development States (SIDS)
December 16th 0019th 2003.
Remarks of Executive Director of CEHI, Vincent Sweeney Thank you Chairperson Hon. Earl Asim Martin, Minister of Health & the Environment, St. Kitts & Nevis; representatives from the Ministry of Health & Environment in St. Kitts & Nevis; country representatives from CEHI Member States; representatives from regional and international organisations; specially invited guests & experts; participants; members of the media; ladies & gentlemenWe at CEHI are very pleased that this day has finally arrived. In one way it culminates a few weeks of hard and hectic work, both by ourselves and the Ministry of Health & Environment in St. Kitts & Nevis. In this regard I would wish to acknowledge the invaluable contribution made by Permanent Secretary, Mr. Elvis Newton and his staff, but particularly the efforts of Mr. Clifford Griffin. I would also wish to congratulate my staff, including those present here, who you will meet over the next few days, and in absentia my many colleagues presently at our office in St. Lucia, especially Ms. Shermaine Glasgow-Chung.
Today however is only the culmination of the organisation for this Workshop. We have a lot of work ahead of us this week, and after this week is over we at CEHI will still have to bring together all of the expert information generated by the Workshop, in order to finalize a Caribbean Directory of Waste Management Technologies.
When the United Nations Environment Programme Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNEP/ROLAC) invited us to review a Directory of Environmentally Sound Technologies it was impossible to say 00o00 It was impossible for many reasons, including the excellent relationship which we have developed with UNEP, and particularly its offices in Mexico and Jamaica. It was also impossible to say 00o00since the Directory00 focus coincides with the central areas of focus of CEHI and our primary mandate.
CEHI, as most of you will know, was established to provide technical and advisory services in all areas of environmental management, including solid waste, liquid waste, and hazardous waste management. The Ministers who, in their wisdom, agreed to establish and support CEHI, knew that matters such as waste management would continue to challenge us in the Caribbean and that regional collaboration was a necessary way to address this challenge. We are happy to confirm their wisdom by bringing together regional experts in order to collaborate on behalf of the region.
CEHI has been given a 00enewed00mandate for solid waste management recently by OECS Ministers. This is in addition to our Ministerial mandates under the Caribbean Cooperation in Health and the Caribbean SIDS Programme of Action, both related to waste management. I say 00enewed00in the case of the OECS, since we have always had such a mandate, but that mandate has been reinforced after the completion of the World Bank funded OECS Solid & Ship Generated Waste Management Project in June of 2003. OECS Solid Waste Managers have now recognised the void which has been left at the completion of the World Bank Project. This void, which we predicted would be felt, we are aggressively seeking to fill, and hope that Member States, recognising the need for a sustainable entity to support regional waste management initiatives will continue to provide necessary support for our work.
This current initiative is only one of many in the area of waste management (& particularly solid waste management) that we are actively pursuing on behalf of Member States.
Among those initiatives include:
Support for Bahamas and Montserrat in landfill management; Support for Dominica in sanitary landfill monitoring; Support for PAHO and Guyana in analysing the solid waste sector; Support for evaluation of solid waste management services in the OECS and French Caribbean territories; Development of solid waste indicators for the OECS; and Assumption of responsibility for the Wider Caribbean Alliance for Solid Waste & Recycling (known as RECARIBE)Convening this workshop in St Kitts and Nevis to review and complete the Directory of Environmentally Sound Technologies for Integrated Management of Solid, Liquid and Hazardous Waste for Small Island States (SIDS) in the Caribbean is viewed as a significant juncture as we move forward as a region in waste management. In addition to CEHI Member State representatives, the invited panel of experts form a core group of highly-trained and experienced REGIONAL personnel who we hope to 00orral00(not unlike cattle) and utilize as an extension of CEHI, to support regional development. Before us are our newest 00ecruits00
The draft Directory which we will be reviewing was developed for the Pacific Region. What we expect to find is that our issues and choices may be similar to those of the Pacific. Use of this Directory can therefore be viewed as another tangible initiative of 00outh-south cooperation00
We hope at the end of the workshop to be able to produce a finalised Directory for the Caribbean based on the existing document. We look forward to the 00dded value00that your experiences in the areas of solid waste, hazardous waste and waste water will bring, and know that the Directory will become a useful tool for use in the Caribbean region and even further afield.
Let me take this opportunity to thank you all in advance for your participation, to UNEP for their inputs and confidence in CEHI, and a special thanks again to the Government of St. Kitts & Nevis, through you Minister Asim Martin, for all of the assistance and support provided, and for your hospitality, past, present and future.
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