Ghana to completely phase out CFC use by 2010

Kumasi, Aug. 14, GNA- Ghana will completely phase out the importation and utilisation of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), by the year 2010, as part of global measures to help save the ozone layer from further depletion.

Mr Emmanuel Osae-Quansah, a Senior Programme Officer of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said the deadline set for Ghana was the outcome of the ratification of the Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol in 1988 and 1989 respectively.

CFCs contain substances that easily deplete the ozone layer, and which are hazardous to the environment and human life. Mr Osae-Quansah was speaking on the topic "Ozone Layer Depletion: Causes and Effects", at the opening session of a training workshop, organised by the EPA in collaboration with Platinum Impex Limited in Kumasi on Thursday.

The two-day workshop was designed to create awareness among the general public, especially air conditioning and refrigeration technicians and engineers about the need to shift from the use of CFCs to a more environmentally friendly technology.

It is being attended by about 200 participants made up of air-condition technicians and engineers, importers and retailers from the Ashanti and Brong-Ahafo regions.

Mr Osae-Quansah asked dealers in air-conditioners and refrigerators to start using hydrocarbons instead of CFCs.

He warned that after 2010, no individual or group of persons would be permitted to import or use products containing CFCs.

In an address read for him, Mr S.K. Boafo, Ashanti Regional Minister, entreated Ghanaians to be more environmentally conscious and cease taking the environment for granted.

"The unpredictable rainfall pattern, the intense heat and various changes associated with the climate, should be enough signal to us that it is high time we attached importance to the proper maintenance and enhancement of the environment", he said.