By Silindzelwe Nxumalo
The Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs says it has prioritized the country’s nuclear safety and security programme and is dedicated to working with all stakeholders in discharging their respective mandates.
This was said by the ministry’s principal secretary (PS) Khangeziwe Mabuza during the opening of the stakeholder workshop to further develop the country’s Integrated Nuclear Security Sustainability Plan (INSSP) at Mafini Conference Centre on Monday.
The PS stated that as a ministry they were convinced that their collective efforts with stakeholders involved would Ensure that they leverage the assistance and support from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the provision of nuclear security assistance and enable them to apply a systematic, structure and comprehensive approach to strengthening our nuclear security regime.
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Mabuza stated that it would also as a country, enable them to identify, consolidate, and prioritize all nuclear security needs for Eswatini in an integrated document.
She mentioned that Eswatini was a member of the IAEA and seeks to enhance her alignment with the principles of peaceful uses of nuclear technology.
“The Kingdom has no activity on nuclear material and very little on radioactive substances despite having aligned itself with a few international legal instruments governing the safety, security, and safeguards on the use of facilities and activities that emit ionizing radiation,” said the PS.
The PS said the country had since prioritized the need to identify and prioritize her nuclear security needs and my Ministry was working tirelessly to coordinate the key role players in this regard to produce a workable plan that would leverage any technical and financial support by the IAEA.
“The country at large has lagged in understanding the aspect of nuclear security despite it benefiting from the peaceful uses of nuclear technology,” said the PS.
Mabuza further appreciated the AIEA Division of Nuclear Security which had been patient with Eswatini in unpacking this new field and the difficult concepts much to their understanding to the point that they had now graduated to see the needto develop and adopt their INSSP as a country.
“In January this year, we hosted a Mission from the IAEA to introduce us to this important activity and together we worked on the preliminaries on developing a workable nuclear security plan tailored to the specific context of our country,” said Mabuza.
She also stated that they had been engaging in-country with their most relevant stakeholders in trying to tease their further understanding of their respective roles and mandates in this program.
“I am therefore pleased that the consultants will fit in elucidate our understanding and help us identify the perfect needs for us to complete the Plan from a country-driven approach,” she said.
The PS further commended the IAEA Mission for choosing such experts from countries within the African region where they had common approaches in implementing various activities.
“We will capitalize on their regional expertise and respective country implementation statuses as lessons to be learned as we develop our Plan,” she said.
