FG Pledges Commitment To Job Creation

The Minister of Environment, Dr Mohammed Mahmood, has pledged the Federal Government’s commitment to the training of beneficiaries of high-pressure polyurethane foaming machines to create more jobs.

Mahmood made the pledge during the inauguration and handing over of four sets of portable high-pressure polyurethane foaming machines to beneficiary companies in Lagos.

It was reported that the minister supervised a demonstration of how the equipment worked.

The equipment is spraying and pouring machines under the UNIDO component of stage II of the Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) phase-out Management Plan (HPMP).

While handling over the machines to beneficiaries, the minister commended UNIDO and the Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol for their assistance.

He said that the machines were intended to help beneficiaries manage their transition from the use of HCFC based foaming equipment to HCFC and Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) free ones by replacing the existing equipment to use environment-friendly methyl formulae (MF) as the foaming agent.

Mahmood added that the transition was aimed at phasing-out the eligible consumption of 30.5 metric tonnes of HCFC-141b used in the manufacturing of polyurethane foam in the production of cold rooms and other commercial refrigerators.

“In order to achieve this phase-out target, the government, in collaboration with UNIDO, will ensure that adequate training is provided on the use of the machines, inspect the installation and routinely monitor their use,’’ the minister said.