(Colombo East-West Group Corr.)

A workshop to encourage the use of Ozone friendly air conditioning and refrigeration systems was conducted last Thursday by the Montreal Protocol Unit of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources on the reduction and control of substances which deplete the Ozone layer at Sausiripaya under the direction of the Ministry Secretary, Mr. Thosapala Hewage.

Dr. W. L. Sumathipala, coordinator, Montreal Protocol Unit, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources spoke on Ozone layer Depletion and Refrigerant Management for Sri Lanka, while Prof. P. A. D. Silva spoke on Alternative Refrigerants and Mr. R. Berkely the International Consultant on Retrofit and Replacement Technologies.

At this incentive programme project for commercial and industrial refrigeration it was revealed that the objective was to eliminate as much as possible the consumption of Chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs in the commercial and industrial refrigeration end-user sectors, through the payment of a financial incentive to enterprises in these sectors that have refrigeration equipment that uses CFCs (R12&R502) refrigerants. Such enterprises will be eligible to apply for an incentive payment if they replace the existing refrigeration equipment with new equipment that uses a refrigerant that is not an Ozone Depleting Substance or that uses a refrigerant that has only a small potential to deplete the Ozone Layer.

The application for an incentive payment must be made using the official application form that can be obtained from the Montreal Protocol Unit of the Ministry of Environment and Ratural Resources.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Sri Lanka Montreal Protocol Unit will implement the Incentive Payment Project. UNDP International and National Consultants will oversee the project and will evaluate the applications for incentive payments and make final recommendations on eligibility and the scale of the incentive payment.