ST. JAMES
PEST CONTROl operators in St. James are participating in a two-day seminar designed to improve their technical knowledge.
The seminar started on August 21 at the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) office in Montego Bay.
Lecturers from the Pesticide Control Authority (PCA) are providing instruction in the varied properties, use, and effects of the different pesticides available, and safety measures to abide by when using them.
Senior Inspector at the PCA's Montego Bay office, Leroy Benjamin, told JIS News that this was the second such seminar being staged by the agency over a six-month period.
"The idea is to improve the technical knowledge of the pest control operators, and to put them in a better position to become certified and licensed to discharge their duties," he said.
He pointed out that certification exams for pest control operators were set every three months, so persons aiming at being certified in the field must attend these seminars to better equip themselves for sitting the exams. He added that persons performing the duty of pest control operators and are not certified, can be prosecuted and brought before the courts.
He said that the whole idea of integrated pest management, which is being promoted at the seminars, is to bring some awareness and knowledge to pest control operators that the answer to the problem is not always in the use of chemicals. "There are other methods such as cultural, mechanical and biological methods that they can employ in order to control insects, minimising the use of chemicals," he said.
He emphasised that his agency promoted the use of environmentally friendly products of low toxicity, and products that will decompose quickly.
