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by Florence Wickramage

The development of safety standards for hydrocarbon as a refrigerant and the formation of a 'AC and Refrigeration Association of Sri Lanka' are among the activities planned by the Environment and Natural Resources Ministry's National Ozone Unit for the protection of the ozone layer, an official said.

Sri Lanka is a party to the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer. It sets out the minimum requirements that parties must adhere to control and eventual phase-out of production and consumption of the Ozone Depleting Substances, said Indrapriya Kularatne, Consultant to the Environment Ministry's National Ozone Unit.

Addressing a workshop on 'Depletion of Ozone Layer and Climate Change' organised for media at the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS) auditorium in Colombo on Tuesday, he said developing countries are encouraged to do so with technical and financial assistance from the Multilateral Fund set up by Contracting Parties to assist developing nations for the implementation of the Montreal Protocol. The Sri Lankan Government will advance her phase-out schedule targetted for 2010 with the aim of a total phase-out by 2005, Kularatne said.

He said the national responses to the programme has been encouraging as three refrigerator manufacturing factories have converted to ozone-friendly technology.

Already eight recycling centres and 95 recovery centres have been established. Under this project, the National Ozone Unit has conducted several technical training programmes, custom officer training programmes, schools and teacher training programmes in addition to its awareness creation campaigns, Kularatne added.

Among contributions to the workshop were presentations by Dr. Kanthi Ariyaratne on health problems created by the depletion of the ozone layer and Dinushi Weeratunga on legal provisions for the protection of the ozone layer.

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