Workshop on HCGCs held in Accra
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA ) says it will by the end of the year empower the Customs division of the Ghana Revenue Service, through training and provision of refrigerant identifiers, to facilitate their monitoring role in tracking down illegal importation of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and other Ozone depleting substances into the country.
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This has become necessary because of the critical role Customs has to play in averting the importation of unapproved and illegal refrigerants into the country.
The move is also aimed at strengthening efforts by Ghana to meet the Montreal Protocol which enjoins parties to the protocol to phase out the production and use of HCFCs by 2016 and to stop production and importation of HCFCs by 2040.
This was contained in a speech read on behalf of the Executive Director of the EPA, Mr Daniel Amlalo ,at a day’s workshop in Accra on retrofitting of split air-conditioners to run on hydrocarbons (R290) as an alternative drop- in refrigerant use in the country.
He said Ghana, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) over the years, had carried out programmes such as public awareness creation and training of technicians and engineers to enhance good refrigeration practices to salvage the depletion of the Ozone layer .
For his part, the National Consultant for the project, Mr Johnson Hasford, urged the participants to take the training seriously to transfer the knowledge acquired to their colleagues.
“We are very optimistic Ghana will meet the various targets set out in the Montreal Protocol which we signed in October 1989, he said “.
Ghana became a party to the Montreal Protocol in October 1989 and had since carried out programmes to phase out Ozone-depleting substances.
Under the Montreal Protocol provisions, Ghana has to freeze her HCFC consumption by January 1, 2013, 10 per cent reduction by 2015, and 35 per cent by 2020.
Continuously, by 2025, the country has to reduce her HCFC consumption by 65 per cent, 97.5 per cent by 2030 and attain a total phase out by 2040.
Failure to comply with these reduction targets means Ghana will face sanctions and trade restrictions by the International community in the supply of these refrigerants.
In all, about 40 selected technicians across the country are benefiting from the training after which they would be certified.
By Fred Dzakpata / Daily Graphic / Ghana