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.
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 signed the agreement.
Under this agreement, Government will launch a USD 42 million project titled ‘Pesticide Risk Reduction in Bangladesh’ with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), under which USD 8.29 million will be spent to dispose of the DDT.
Global Environment Facility (GEF) is providing the DDT destroying fund. Established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, GEF helps tackle the planet’s most pressing environmental problems.
Through the agreement, Bangladesh will finally be getting rid of a huge volume of notoriously toxic and currently illegal pesticide, DDT as per the Stockholm Convention. In 1985, the Bangladesh government, with Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Health Organization (WHO), imported the DDT to fight a malaria epidemic. Later, it was found out to be not in compliance with the technical requirements.
Since then, it was stored at Chattogram Government Medical Sub-depot (MSD). The stockpile has remained there since, where due to the adverse effects of a humid tropical climate on DDT molecular stability, the stock became severely degraded and largely obsolete. In addition, in 1991 the area was exposed to severe floods, greatly exacerbating the problem by flushing DDT into the surrounding environment.
Now, the consignment will soon be shipped out of the country and destroyed in an underground incinerator in Germany.
The development comes 21 years after Bangladesh officially banned DDT registration in the country, stopping local production and imports. The United States banned toxic DDT back in 1972 while a worldwide ban on its agricultural use as pesticide was banned under the Stock Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) since 2004.
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.
Objective of the project 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.
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