Representatives of the Department of Marine Resources St. Kitts and Nevis: Kharim Saddler, Alanni Polanco and Vaughn Sturge, recently attended a two-day technical workshop hosted by the Barbados United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The purpose of the workshop was to finalise specifications for the sargassum removal equipment, a project being funded by the Government of Japan.
An overview of the scouting activities conducted earlier this year at the various islands was presented to each stakeholder country. The team provided progress updates on the project, while the technical consultant discussed thirty-two (32) impacted sites across nine islands and evaluated the suitability of onshore and offshore equipment for collecting, removing, transporting, and disposing of accumulated or stranded sargassum, considering the different conditions at each site.
Other participating countries included Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago.
Each country signed the agreed technical specifications for the equipment at the conclusion of the workshop.