LOC15:37
12:37 GMT
KUWAIT, June 18 (KUNA) -- The President of the National Committee for the
Protection of the Ozone Layer, Dr. Saud Al-Rashid said Monday Kuwait was
determined to take part in next year's environment-related international
treaties.
Al-Rashid, who was speaking at a workshop on phasing out Ozone
layer-depleting Halon systems here staged jointly with the United Nations
Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Fire Brigades department
here, said the Environment's Higher Council has always wanted Kuwait to live
up to its commitments as a signatory of the 1992 Montreal Protocol on
substances that deplete the Ozone Layer and stop importing substances that
deplete the Ozone layer.
Al-Rashid, in his capacity as head of the Air Monitoring Authority within
the Environment-protection Committee, that the National Committee for the
Protection of the Ozone Layer has done a good job in implementing the
recommendations of the Montreal Protocol.
Among other things, Kuwait laid down in 1994 a rate system that
significantly contributing in lowering the proportions of Ozone-depleting
substances here.
He said the committee had laid down special systems and legislations for
the sake of ensuring proper implementation of the Montreal Protocol and
abiding by it.
He cited the need for licenses to import Ozone-depleting substances listed
in the Montreal Protocol.
The private and public sectors are to join hands to ensure full
implementation of national laws related to the Montreal Protocol, he said.
"As a result of such measures, the consumption of such Ozone
layer-depleting substances was brought down from 4,000 metric tons in 1986 to
250 metric tons in 2003.
For his part, a representative of the Fire Department at the workshop, said
the National Committee for the Protection of the Ozone Layer has formed a team
to investigate the exact quantities of Halon used by the Fire Brigade and
other government departments here.
"The Committee can provide all the advice and help needed by any side
wishing to opt for substitutes (to the Halon compounds)," Ahmad Al-Fezeih said.
He said there were two varieties of Halon
One of them, Bromochlorodifluoromethane, also known by the trade name Halon
1211, or BCF, or Halon 1211 BCF and the other Bromotrifluoromethane, also
known by the trade name Halon 1301. They are both pressurized liquid gas used
in combating fires.
He said Halon is one of the safest to use specifically in electric fires,
since it is not a conductor substance and does not leave harmful products
behind.
The Ozone layer is mainly located in the lower portion of the stratosphere
and protects it from the harmful effects of radiation from the sun rays.
He said that there were other substitutes to the Halon and that the
industrial sector here was becoming increasingly aware of them as a prelude to
use them instead of Halon to protect the Ozone layer. (end)
mny.eh
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