A three days Management and Resource Mobilisation (MRM) training workshop for over thirty Refrigeration Technician Associations from the Western, Kanifing and Banjul local administrative regions is underway at the Friendship Hostel in Bakau.

The training is organised by the National Environment Agency (NEA) in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
As the Gambia prepares to phase out ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) by 2010, the workshop aims to enable executive members of these associations to develop managerial skills, to mobilise resources on their own for self reliance and to create collective efforts to fight against the emission and consumption of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS).

In his keynote address Momodou BS Kanteh, Director of Technical Services Network, at the National Environment Agency disclosed that the training is a replication of similar workshops, successfully conducted for refrigeration technicians throughout the country. He said that, the Gambia fulfilling her international obligations like other parties, has ratified the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer and further shows firm commitment to reduce in stages and eventually phased out the production and consumption of ODS by 2010.

The NEA Technical Director disclosed that the importance of the ozone layer is its role in reducing harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun from reaching the earth’s surface.
He revealed that the ozone layer provides a protective shield for plant and animal life from the ultraviolet radiation, which can be particularly harmful to all living organisms. “This includes increase skin cancer, cataracts, blindness, suppresses the human immune system, damages natural ecosystems and adverses impact on climate change”, he said.
In The Gambia, he added, a national working group was created in 1998 to control, monitor and eliminate ODS, over 120 technicians have been trained in refrigeration techniques, refrigeration handling, recovering and recycling, and over 80 custom officials have been trained and provided with substance identifiers to monitor and control ODS at our ports of entry.

Declaring the training open, Yankuba Colley, deputy Mayor of KMC, thanked the NEA for what he described as a timely move in the protection of the ozone layer.  In realising the dangers of ozone depletion, he said, the ozone unit of the NEA has setup refrigeration technician associations in all the regions of the country to ensure that the participants realise that ozone depletion is man made, therefore it should be a collective responsibility to learn and educate others to ensure a better environment for life sustainability on earth.