The government has signed a US$ 8.29 million agreement with FAO Bangladesh aiming to check illegal pesticide Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, use in the country, reports BSS.
Secretary of Economic Relations Division (ERD) Monowar Ahmed and FAO Representative in Bangladesh Robert D Simpson signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides at ERD office here yesterday, a FAO press release said.
Under the agreement, FAO Bangladesh will implement a project entitled ‘Pesticide Risk Reduction in Bangladesh’ with a grant of about US$ 8.29 million from GEF. The project will help complete elimination of a huge stock pile of DDT at Agrabad, Chittagong and other POPS as per the Stockholm Convention, the release added.
The project intends to support the government in updating its national regulations in relation to the Stockholm Convention and developing the national capacity for the management and safe disposal of hazardous wastes, in order to safeguard people and environment.
The project objective is to reduce risk to human and animal health and the environment from Stockpiles of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), other obsolete pesticides and from ongoing excessive use of new POPs and other highly hazardous pesticides.
The three-year project also proposes piloting a collection and disposal or recycling strategy for empty pesticide containers with an initial 100 tonnes of containers to be collected and safely disposed of. The system will be applicable to the management of other hazardous wastes.