Officers from East African Community states have been trained on how to handle dangerous chemicals and the ways of dealing with associated effects.
The 4th Operational Training on Chemical Emergency Response Planning and Management for the EAC States, party to the Chemical Weapons Convention happened at the Uganda Rapid Response capability Centre in Jinja district.
This was carried out by the Czech Republic, United Kingdom and the Republic of South of South Africa.
James Ebitu, the acting PS of Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development noted that even though the East Africa Community region imports manufactured chemicals for use in industrial processes, there is need to skill these officers on the associated dangers and risks.
“These chemicals are good for development however it is incumbent upon the respective government to create awareness that the use of these chemicals needed to be controlled, regulated and this can only be achieved if the requisite knowledge and skills on the associated dangers and risks of these chemicals are well known to us,” he said.
He noted that the officers should also be equipped with the effects of these chemicals to the environment.
“We must be able to identify and articulate these risks and provide appropriate mitigation measures of these chemicals in our region,” he said.
Other instructors vowed to continue to support such kind of training in all the East African countries.
Participants were urged to pass on the knowledge attained from the training back to their respective countries.
The main goal of the projects was to develop capacity in all East African countries and also to evaluate the gaps in chemical response for each East African Country.