International Ozone Day |19 September 2017

Certificate presentation, prize-giving highlight occasion

A series of certificate presentations and prize-giving were held yesterday to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the International Ozone Day.

The International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer is celebrated on September 16 every year and it provides an opportunity for people worldwide to reflect on the progress that has been made with regard to the protection of the ozone layer.

The first group to be awarded were eight refrigerant technicians who underwent training in the use of natural refrigerants which are ozone and climate friendly.

Their prizes were presented to them by principal secretary (PS) for environment Alain Decomarmond.

The awardees were Harsha Lakmal Malabaya, Nichola Payet, Eldrick Adelaide, Rhony Dany Payet, Travis Laurent Esparon, Dayann Suzette, Steve Mathiot and Tony Georgiev.

The PS for education Odile De Comarmond presented the second batch of prizes to the winners of the Ozone poster competition held to gauge the understanding the younger generation have of the depletion of the ozone layer and what the consequences would be if they deteriorate.

In the primary category the first prize was awarded to Nigel Kilindo (Anse Etoile), followed by Gioia Derosa (Anse Etoile) while Chelsea Sirame (Mont Fleuri) came out third.

Special effort prizes were awarded to Chloe Labiche and Shaopaule Isnard from Anse Etoile.

In the secondary category the award recipients were all from Plaisance school with Pria Chavda in first place, while the second and third positions went to Erica Niole and Charmaine Soffola.

The winning team for this year’s public presentation competition under the Montreal Protocol theme ‘Caring for all life under the sun’ was the School of Advanced Level Studies (Sals).

The Seychelles Police Academy (SPA) came out second while the Seychelles Institute for Teacher Education (Site) won the third prize.

Prizes were also awarded to best chairperson, best main speaker and best proposer of vote of thanks.

The PS for Blue economy Rebecca Loustau-Lalanne presented them with their awards, while the advisor to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Climate Change Denis Matatiken presented the awards to the winners of the secondary school ozone quiz competition.

English River school came out the winner of the competition followed by Anse Boileau school and the prize for best scorer went to Arnaud Perine.

Awards were also presented to students who took part in a cloud competition organised by the Seychelles Meteorological Authority to commemorate World Meteorological Day on March 23.

The senior forecasting officer at the Met office, Gerard Bijoux, presented prizes to the winners.

In the primary category Christie Charles, Flory Course, Alisa Pierre came out first, second and third respectively.

While Adrian Andrade clinched the first position in the secondary category, followed by Abisha Dingwall and Jardel Banane in second and third position.

Marcelle Morel Duboil and Dorian Banane are the winners from the post secondary category.

The ceremony was held at the Site auditorium in the presence of the deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Nicholas Prea, key officers from the respective ministries, teachers, students and distinguished guests.

In his opening address PS Decomarmond said the day serves as a reminder to decision-makers and the general public of the need to protect this valuable shield that safeguards the earth from the harmful ultra-violet radiation from the sun and in the long-run our lives.

“Therefore I call upon the entire nation to get involved and make a valuable contribution towards protecting our environment, let’s extend our kindness to the ozone layer today for a safer tomorrow,” he said.

He also recalled the achievements made by Seychelles since its signatory to the Montreal Protocol in 1993 and noted that the next step is for Seychelles to be compliant with the Kigali Amendments which were agreed upon in October 2016. We are expected to ratify the Kigali amendments before the end of this year.