As the Gambia Government is committed to phase out the importation and consumption of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) by January 2010 as enshrined in the Montreal Protocol of 1987 of which The Gambia is a party, the National Environment Agency, (N.E.A) has recently formed associations of security officers on ODS in the Upper River, Central River, North Bank and the Lower River Regions.

The formation of these associations came as a recommendation of training programmes on the detection and management of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) for customs, Police, Immigration Officers, NIA and other stakeholders which was held in Basse and Farafenni.

This important nation wide training avails the trainees with the necessary required knowledge and skills on ODS detection, use of identifiers and safety procedures in handling these chemicals.

During the training in Basse, security officers which were drawn from both the Central River and Upper River Regions, formed an association called Basse Security Network on Ozone Depleting Substances with acronym BASNODS. In an interview with this paper after the formulation of the network, Buba Ceesay of Bansang Customs  said the network will take the responsibility in protecting the earth from substances and activities that depletes the ozone layer and would lead the fight against the smuggling and illegal entry of these chemicals into the country. Alhajie Sheriffo Manjang, Immigration Officer in Basse, Jalimadi Kamaso, Phytosanitary Officer in Basse and Ebrima Drammeh a Police Officer all expressed similar sentiments.

In the Farafenni training, security officers were drawn from Lower River and North Bank Regions and their network is called Security Network on Ozone Depleting Substances, SNODS. Speaking to the press after the formation of the network, Sergeant Alhagie Tamba of Soma Immigration Post called on colleagues to help in the fight against ozone depletion and its entrance into the country. According to Buramanding Jaiteh, Customs Officer in Farafenni said the network needs a collective responsibility and sacrifice as enshrine in the Montreal Protocol and the Vienna Convention. Jaiteh disclosed that there is a need to complement government’s efforts in our nation’s phasing-out programmes and therefore called on colleagues to share the knowledge gained with others who does not have the opportunity to attend such a nation building training. Sergeant Jamie Lamin of Soma Police expressed similar sentiments.