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National research infrastructure
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One problem area within the region needs careful examination because the solution
could in some cases involve considerable investment by the national governments. This is the
creation of a research infrasLnucLure which fulfills the demands of a good Regional Seas
programme. This inf rastructure includes the vessels, equipment and laboratories that will
enable each participating country to obtain the necessary samples at the various places and
times requined by the prognamme, transporting them Lo the laboratories and analysing the
various components to give valid results. This is an entirely different problem from the
institutional problems rnentioned earlier.
In rnost cases, the problem of research inf rastructure eould be mel Lhrough
co-ordination within the country. However, not all of these problems can be so resolved. For
example, although the need for vessels to get samples could be met by taking care of by
taking advantage of the various governrnental and non-governmental sailings within a given
sea, the acquisition and use of specialized equipment could not. No amount of 'rco-qeration"
between various instiLutions can cteate a specialized piece of equipment that is not already
Lhere. The countries in the East Asian region vary greatly in their ability to set up the
proper research infrastructure. For example, the Malaysian Government seems to be quite
generous in its zupport for the acquisition of research materials and equipment, while in
contrast, the Philippine Government has a de facto ban m the importation of research
equipment which makes their acquisition quite difficult.
Therefore, the country representatives m a regional co-ordinating committee or council
must move their respecLive governrnents and institutions to make available the necessary
faciliLies and equipment requined for the Regional Seas co-qerative projects.
Personnel and trainino
In general, there is need to improve the quality of personnel in the vanious institutions
in the negion who will do the day to day work m the co-operative project. Although a
significant amount of environrental work is already being done'in many places, the intensity
and depth of the undertakings fall short of the rigorous requirements of a Regional Seas
programme.
Within each country, institutions competent in training for zuch work already exist. Tfe
problem lies in co-ordinating these for the putposes of the programme so that the quality of
training would be of a uniformly high level. The alternative would be to bning together the
personnel involved at me facility especially active in the field and give them a rigorous
training in the various techniques required. A several month training proqramme, perhaps in
Australia, has been s.rggested by some, although for psychological reasons (among others),
training in me of the developing countries, supported as necessary to upgrade facilities to a
sufficiently high level, would be an alternative that should be explored.
A problem that could well arise in this area of personnel and training is the proper
choice of the people to be sent for training. In many countries in the region, bureaucratic
trfavourites'r tend to be chosen again and again, often to [he detriment of the aims of training
programmes if these favourites happen not to be lhe people who will do the work.
Equipment maintenance and calibration
Equipment and proceedures strould be such that, dat.a obtained from the various parte of
the region are direcLly comparable within the region and with data obtained from the various
other Regional Seas programmes. This requires training progf ammes on the proper
maintenance and calibration of equipment for personnel involved in the co-perative project.
A recent workshop m instrunent maintenance and calibration in the region sponsored
by the Federation of Asian Chemieal Smieties showed that the bulk of maintenance and
calibration of analytical instrunrentation is carried out, not by the analysts who should be
responsible for the quality of their analytical data, but by technicians from the instrurnent
zuppliers. ln some cases this does not pose a real problem, especially if the dealers'rrvice
headquarters happens to be nearby, but in many cases it contributes to unacceptably Iong
down-tirnes fon certain inslrurnents.