Perhaps govt has not really thought this through and the policy could have been more cognizant of ground realities
KARACHI: This is with reference to a letter published in these columns entitled ‘Plastic ban: other side of the picture’, in which the writer has argued against a ban on plastic bags. According to my knowledge, the letter contains several erroneous contentions. The letter states that ‘millions’ of people have become unemployed as a result of plastic bag manufacturing units closing down. However, the fact is that 200,000 people are directly employed by this cottage industry while another 600,000 people are involved indirectly. So ‘millions’ have not been unemployed. Even assuming half a million people will be out of a job, it is first of all naïve to assume that all will not be able to get any other job and will starve. And second, is it in the national interest to ‘save’ these jobs and make the future bleak for 208 million people? Besides, a large number of such manufacturing units do not pay any taxes at all.
Moreover, the ban has not been imposed all of a sudden. Sindh imposed a ban on the manufacturing, sale, purchase and use of polythene bags as far back as 1994, Punjab followed in 1995 and Balochistan in 2001. It is another matter that the bans were not enforced in all these years, and many new manufacturing units were rather established after the bans! So plastic bags manufacturers had 20 years in which to taper off their business and go into something else. The argument that the industry is a ‘top’ revenue contributor is not valid either, because revenue generation should not come at a colossal environmental cost.
Yes, perhaps the government has not really thought this through and the policy could have been more cognizant of ground realities and limitations. For example the total ban in Islamabad on all types of plastic bags does not clarify for the public how to dispose of their daily waste, if even large, thicker plastic litter bags are banned. Should the citizens just dump their litter loosely all over the place, considering that even municipality litter bins are few and far between?
Zohare Ali Shariff
Published in The Express Tribune, August 30th, 2019.
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