THE Chief Government Chemist has underlined the registration of all imported chemicals with his office in an effort to identify them in case they cause mishaps.

The Chief Chemist, Prof Manyele Samuel, told reporters that the registration process would also enable the authorities to identify what kind of medical treatment to apply.

Prof Manyele said monitoring of imported chemicals would be introduced, adding that every imported item would be certified to avoid possible side-effects. Responding to questions from the media in Dar es Salaam yesterday at the launch of a project for implementation of chemical accident prevention and preparedness in Tanzania (CAPP), Prof Samwel said in case of any health complication, the chemical should be identified and the right medical service given to the victims.

Prof Samwel said chemical side-effects might be visible shortly but most of them took years to be noticed. "People should ask about the effects before buying chemicals. This will be helpful to experts of environmental or human health when the effects occur," Prof Samwel said. He noted that public awareness campaigns would be launched before the project implementation kicks off. "Ordinary people have never had education about chemical accidents prevention and preparedness. Now we will officially start educating people all over the country so as to avoid more risks, " Prof Samwel said.

Launching the project on behalf of the Minister for Health and Social Welfare, the Deputy Minister, Dr Seif Rashid, said specific prevention and preparedness activities which are needed vary, depending on the local situations, but the planning process itself can be done everywhere using similar methods. He said the government in collaboration with the Swiss embassy and Global Environmental Management would focus more on prevention before disasters occur.

"We will make sure chemical experts get knowledge about the production of the chemical, its transportation and disposal so as to avoid environmental pollution that will cause effects to human life," Dr Rashid said. "We will control poor transportation of chemicals that could lead to disasters and deal with industries and mining owners who poorly dispose of chemicals. I also encourage people to inform government authorities when they see poor disposal of chemicals," he said.