On March 18, 2023, the Government of Jamaica through Professor Charles Grant, Director General of the International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Science (ICENS), an Agency of the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology, and a Centre of The University of the West Indies, Mona signed off on the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA’s) donation of a  Multi-Purpose Gamma Irradiator for Jamaica. The Multi-Purpose Gamma Irradiation Facility will be housed at ICENS. This donation is in response to the growing recognition of the importance of nuclear technology to assist national development, particularly in agriculture, medicine, industry, research and education. In the short term, this Facility will be integral to the execution of the Technical Cooperation projects that are of vital concerns to the Country including using gamma ray treatments to enhance the production of ginger lines resistant and/or tolerant to ginger rhizome rot pathogens, and integrated vector management approaches via a sterile insect technique to control Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes as vectors of human pathogens, particularly the Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika Viruses.  In the medium to long term, the Multi-Purpose Gamma Irradiator Facility will allow the application of the technology to other crops and vectors such as the West Indian Fruit Fly, both in Jamaica and the region; the sterilization of skin grafts for burn victims; the sterilization of surgical equipment; and cancer research.

Photo caption: Dr. Charah Watson, Executive Director (Scientific Research Council); Ms. Eunice Bepura, Acting Director, Procurment Services (IAEA), Mrs Sherine Huntley-Jones, Chief entermologist (Ministry of Health and Wellness),  Dr. Ryan Francis (Scientific Research Council); Professor Charles Grant, Director General (International Centre for Environmental and  Nuclear Science); Mr. Saul Perez, Section Head, Division of Technical Cooperation for Latin American and the Caribbean (IAEA); and Mr. Dineth Dissanayake, Procurement Officer, Department of Management (IAEA).

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