DOZENS of employees, especially new ones belonging to chemical pest control companies, have been trained by the Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals Control Board (PTCCB) and graduated on Tuesday as pest control applicators.

The PTCCB, in 2012, started the training programme which has become an annual event, culminating in a graduation ceremony. It encompasses the basic proficiency and intermediate levels.

This year, 49 employees graduated under the basic proficiency level and 27 under the intermediate proficiency, at De Impeccable Banquet Hall on Brickdam.
The programme targets new employees in the business, so as to bring them up to speed with how technology is impacting the field; how to understand the safe use of pesticides; and how to handle certain products that have to be used. It is an in-house training which runs for one to two weeks, during which the employees study a package and then write an examination.

Deputy Registrar at the PTCCB, Suresh Amichand, told the Guyana Chronicle that the best graduating students this time around are Pawan Persaud and Sherlin Inniss for the basic proficiency; and Navendra Jerry for the intermediate level.
Registrar of PTCCB Trecia Garnath, in congratulating the students, offered that the basic training is intended to introduce participants to the concept of pests and their management; and also to raise awareness about pesticides and their efficient and judicious use.

“It is a foundation course and therefore seeks to expose attendees to the general concepts of pest, their biology and behaviour, and the role these play in management. In contrast, the intermediate training seeks to expand on the knowledge gained from the basic training and includes a more hands-on, practical approach to professional pest control application,” Garnath said.

She added: “Today, the total number of individuals exposed to the training is 192 with 177 of them being certified to practise as pest control applicators. Eighty nine percent of those persons who wrote the basic proficiency were successful and will be graduating today. Thirty persons went on to the intermediate proficiency. Ninety percent or 27 of these persons were successful and will be graduating today.”

The graduation ceremony was held during Pesticides Awareness Week under the theme, “Increase Food Safety, Reduce dependency on pesticides, and Adopt integrated pest management.”

Garnath encouraged the employees to be responsible in their use of chemicals, and to seek to reduce the dependency on chemical pesticides where possible. “You are responsible by your profession not only therefore for your life, but that of others. Please use pesticides responsibly,” she urged.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Delma Nedd, during her feature address, noted that pesticides are important tools for controlling organisms that limit crop and livestock production, damage property, spread disease, or otherwise detract from the quality of life. However, as with any tool, she cautioned that their misuse can pose a threat to human health and the environment.

“Minimising pest damage, while simultaneously providing for equitable and orderly domestic and international trade in agriculture commodities must always remain in sharp focus.

We must have a cadre of pest control professionals who are well trained to deal with pests and pesticides in such a manner that the general public is protected, wholesome food is produced, for both local and international consumption and the environment is not adversely affected,” she said.

Pesticide applicator certification is a means of ensuring that individuals who apply pesticides professionally have the knowledge to do so in a safe, judicious, and effective manner, Nedd said, adding that trained, knowledgeable, experienced applicators are regarded as professionals capable of using pesticides in a responsible manner.

“It is important that you therefore understand that you are responsible for learning about and complying with pesticide laws and regulations before making any applications. You are responsible for any consequences of actions that result from an application and you are responsible to broaden your job-related skills and professional competency,” she pointed out.

Chairman of PTCCB Leslie Munroe told the employees that they have a very important role to play because the use of pesticides is often taken lightly. “They are used as though there are no consequences to how they use them. I’m concerned about how it [sic] is being used nationally; we need to come up with more environmentally friendly methods of dealing with pests.”