A new Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) team has been set up in Seychelles to establish a national action plan to deal with such risks and eventualities by the beginning of next year.
The CBRN local focal point, Aisha Rachel, revealed the team's plans in an interview with the press at a meeting at the Savoy Resort and Spa. An on-site assistance expert from the EU CBRN Centre of Excellence, Dr Jaouad Anter Rahmoun, is facilitating the two-day meeting.
The reconstituted team is meeting for two days to discuss the finer details of the initiative, determine their specific roles on the team, and how it will function over the next two years.
The team consists of representatives from customs and border authorities, law enforcement agencies, and emergency services, among others, but Rachel explained that through their deliberations other pertinent members may be added to the team.
In his address to launch the meeting, the director of the Division of Risk and Disaster Management (DRMD), Robert Ernesta, pointed out that there were gaps when dealing with CDRM issues in the country even "if this year we have had issues with the gas incidents."
He was referring to this year's incidents at the Supreme Court and various schools, where unidentified gas was smelt and people had trouble breathing, and on several occasions needed to be evacuated. The CDRM team will be working on such incidents.
Ernesta said he hopes after the meeting "we all agree on the way forward so that CDRM issues can be addressed as any other within the disaster response portfolio."
The CBRN initiative is a key part of the European Union's global strategy to counteract and mitigate CBRN risks launched in 2010. Seychelles officially joined in 2013, with the Department of Foreign Affairs being the first focal point.
The archipelago in the western Indian Ocean drafted its first national action plan, which has been available since June 2016. The National CBRM team will play an instrumental role in projects concerned with preparedness, mitigation, and action in related cases in the country, such as the gas leak incidents.
"In the past, we were reactively dealing with such instances, but with the establishment of the team, we will be more proactive," she said.
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Rachel said, "It will take three months to get the team together and we will begin working on our action plan in January 2025."
She added that it will take another three months to have the action plan up and running, with regular reviews earmarked every three to five years.
"We will identify all actions we will need to take as a country to address CDRM issues, where we will also prioritise them from high to low in terms of their severity," she concluded.
