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Hotel America, the first
Cuban establishment free of ozone depleting
substances
• Nelson Espinosa Pena,
director of the Cuban Ozone Technical Office,
explained that this marks an important step,
demonstrating an awareness on the part of tourism
authorities across the country
Ángel Freddy Pérez Cabrera
SANTA CLARA.
—
Hotel
America, which belongs to the Cubanacán
travel agency,
made
a national and international first last Friday by
becoming the first Cuban establishment to be
declared free of ozone depleting substances (ODS).
 On
presenting the prestigious
award from the Ministry of Science,
Technology and Environment (CITMA),
Nelson Espinosa
Pena, director
of the
Ozone Technical Office
in Cuba,
explained that it was a
significant achievement,
demonstrating an awareness on the part of tourism
authorities both in the province and across the
country
of
the need to
be free of all substances
that can harm
life on the planet.
Pena
also stated that
by avoiding the use of
chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCs),
the hotel in central
Santa
Clara,
has set an example
of what
can be achieved when there
is sufficient will to
fulfill the mandate of
the
United Nations,
which in 1995
established September 16 as
International Day for the
Preservation of the Ozone Layer.
He
further stressed that
Cuba
has enjoyed undeniable
success
in meeting the goals set
by the UN and
the Montreal Protocol,
with a strategy that
has enabled
a significant reduction in
the emission of harmful
substances into the atmosphere,
through the
promotion
of alternative technologies.
Among
the actions taken by
the largest island
of the Antilles, the
specialist referred to
the elimination of
CFC in
domestic and commercial
refrigeration equipment, as
well as pharmaceutical and
industrial aerosols,
something few
States have been able
to achieve.
The country has also succeeded
in ensuring that no
fire extinguishers
contain halons,
and imports of
HCFC were frozen in
2013,
together with other measures,
Espinoza added.
The
ozone layer serves
to shield
the earth
from ultraviolet radiation
from the sun, by filtering
out these emissions,
without which life
on earth
would not be possible,
hence the importance of
limiting and eliminating
the use of
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs),
hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC)
and other substances responsible
for the destruction of
the ozone layer.
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