Environment officials praised the formation Thursday March 4 of a new umbrella organisation for providers and technicians of cooling technology.
In a ceremony officially launching the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Association of Seychelles (ACRAS), technicians and environment officials spoke of continued cooperation in ridding Seychelles of harmful gases associated with older refrigerators and similar appliances.
Seychelles was one of more than 200 countries to ratify the Montreal Protocol in 1993, which called for the general reduction of CFCs and other gases that scientists believe deplete the ozone layer, the earth’s natural shield from harmful UV radiation.
Revisions to the Montreal Protocol in 1990 required industrial countries to phase out all CFCs by 2000 and developing countries to do so in 2010, but officials in Seychelles believed the timeline could be condensed in its case.
Ozone officer Inese Chang Leng said that environment officials hope to have the country completely free of such chemicals by 2007.
“In view of our dependence on industrialised countries for equipment and the gas itself,” environment principal secretary Rolph Payet said, “it made economic sense to fast-track the process, and this has only been possible through close collaboration with other government bodies, training institutions and the private sector.”
Since 1999, the ministry has been working with various parties to speed up the phasing out of CFCs by organising professional courses for technicians and providing support to the Industrial Training Centre.
Customs officials have also been trained to identify the various types of equipment that are compliant with new regulations, versus those that could be responsible for CFCs or other controlled substances.
“Over the last twelve months, the Customs Department intercepted various large consignments of banned refrigeration equipment,” Mr Payet said. “I again warn all importers that we will maintain our policy to have those shipped back to the country of origin.”
In Seychelles however, many old refrigerators still exist for which replacement gas is not readily available, he noted.
It was for that reason, Mr Payet said, the ministry would be handing over two CFC recycling machines, a donation on behalf of the German government, to ACRAS in the hope that the association would make the machines available to all of its members.
The recycling units will allow technicians to service older refrigerators without releasing additional CFCs into the atmosphere.
ACRAS chairman Ferdinand Denousse accepted the units from Mr Payet and German consular Maryse Eischler.
Members of ACRAS were optimistic that Seychelles would meet its self-imposed deadline to be free of CFCs, especially with the addition of the recycling units.
Through the new association, Mr Denousse said, technicians and refrigeration companies themselves would have better access to the latest developments in the cooling technology sector.
ACRAS, he said, would also be collaborating with other professionals and companies, like contractors and architects, to promote responsible refrigeration and air conditioning practices where they are needed. Such cooperation, Mr Denousse added, would also cut down on the illegal importation of non-compliant refrigerators and appliances.
From seychelles-online.com