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www.solid.gov.bb

ISWMP

Waste Management Co-ordinator Ricardo Marshall telling Education Officer of the Ministry of Health, Denise Carter-Taylor and Health Information Officer, Joy-Ann Gill about the website improvements. Three years on from its original launch, a decision was taken to re-design the solid waste website, improving on its attractiveness and effectiveness as a major educational site for solid waste management. And according to Illuminat’s Technology Specialist, Kurtis Best site traffic has already increased by 25 per cent as www.solid.gov.bb remains a website with international appeal supplying timely and useful information to the region and world. Illuminat Barbados Limited developed and maintains our website. Best has also described solid.gov.bb as one of the government's most ground-breaking websites and a leading resource for solid waste management teacher/student resources, including lesson plans and classroom activities. One major addition was “The Guide to the Integration of Solid Waste Management into the School Curriculum” which was launched in November 2000 and was previously available in book and electronic form. It can now be accessed in its entirety from a direct link on the home page or through the Teacher and Student Resources Section. Delivering the feature address at the recent re-launch, Senior Medical Officer in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Ronald Knight noted that the website has “dovetailed beautifully with the message which the Ministry of Health is promoting, that is, more open access to information through an interactive website, seven (7) days a week, twenty-four (24) hours a day”. He explained that the content of the website is very extensive, covering seven major areas: 1) Information about the Integrated Solid Waste Management Project 2) News updates about the Project 3) Teacher resources 4) Just for kids 5) Community resources 6) Publications, and 7) Links to other government departments Dr. Knight told the audience which included ministry officials, teachers and students, that the site was useful not only to children but to technocrats, governmental and non-governmental agencies, teachers, students, the general public, academics and scientists alike. He noted that the very popular brochures series, currently at #8, has been uploaded so they too can be accessed under the Resource Centre. There is also greater use of images of the spokesperson for the Integrated Solid Waste Management Programme - Grace Waste - throughout the site, evidenced on the Home Page with the use of a picture of the Grace Waste road sign. Secondly, the Just For Kids section is more visually appealing, with the Grace Waste icon, inviting the students to click on any of the activities. The online glossary has been expanded to make it more user-friendly, and last but by no means least, there is a direct link to GOBINET on the home page and vice versa, a link to the Integrated Solid Waste Management Prgramme website, once one entered sites from other ministries and or agencies.