The National Environment Agency (NEA) has started to implement a pilot project aimed at reducing the use of greenhouse gas and ozone depletion substance in The Gambia.
The project, supported by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), is designed to achieve its aim through technology transfer in the industrial refrigerator and the air conditioning sectors.
Speaking at the launching ceremony recently held at the Kairaba Beach Hotel in Kololi, the executive director of NEA, Madam Ndey Bakurin, said the project is in two folds: policy and regulatory support, and technology transfer.
She said that at the end of the project, the NEA would make recommendation to encourage people and communities to desist from using greenhouses gas and ozone depletion substances.
Madam Bakurin said the country’s industrial sector is experiencing some challenges in meeting the cost of electricity, and the high cost and sometimes unavailability of spare parts are also issues.
These challenges even led to the closure of some strategically located ice making factories in town, she said.
In view of this, the NEA executive director said the agency is working with development partners to introduce energy efficiency projects for the industrial sector.
In her remarks on the occasion, Gambia Technical Training Institute’s Director Jahou S. Faal, said the institute is appreciative of the support given to it by the NEA and UNIDO.
She said the NEA has for long been working closely with the Gambia Technical Training Institute (GTTI) in technology transfer to refrigerator technicians in The Gambia.
It is from this collaboration with NEA that the GTTI began to work with UNIDO, Mrs Faal said, adding that GTTI has recently entered into an agreement with UNIDO for the implementation of a project for the adoption of better energy performing refrigeration technologies in The Gambia.
“This project gives the GTTI the opportunity to increase its range of training programmes,” she said.
UNIDO industrial development officer Riccardo Savigliano, in his address, said the initiative is a short-term project that is being implemented to protect the country’s ozone layer and environment.
“If the ozone layer is not protected, it can lead to the destruction to our environment,” he added.
