The Bahamas is set to celebrate the 25th anniversary as a signatory to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of hazardous Wastes and their Disposal with two Workshops scheduled to be held in New Providence and Grand Bahama.
The Government of The Bahamas, who was ratified to the Basel Convention in Basel, Switzerland in 1992, under the Ministry of Environment and Housing and the BEST Commission will collaborate with the Secretariat of the Basel Convention to host a Multi-stakeholder consultation workshop on the control of Transboundary movements of hazardous Wastes and their Disposal in New Providence and Grand Bahama on January 17 and 19 respectively.
The Bahamas, specifically the Freeport Harbor is a significant transshipment point of hazardous wastes and materials in all forms that is transit to disposal across the world but particularly between the Americas and Europe.
Thus, the management of hazardous waste has been of paramount importance to Bahamians, not only health wise, but also to the state of the environment and to the sustainable development of the archipelago.
Also of high priority is the goal that frames the Vision 2040 National Development Plan 2016 for the Commonwealth of the Bahamas which is to present control and safe generation, treatment, recovery, storage, transport and disposal of hazardous wastes The Bahamas.
The consultation workshop is a continuation in the efforts to strengthen efforts toward proper management of hazardous waste, addressing existing and emerging challenges faced in the Bahamas and to identify possible solutions in relation to the Convention as a whole. The workshop also projects to identity possible solutions and raise public awareness among key stakeholders of the convention’s implementation in the Bahamas.
The Department of Physical Planning J.F.K. Drive will facilitate the New Providence Workshop on January 17. Grand Bahama’s Workshop will be held at Sir Charles Hayward Library, January 19.
