Wahab urges citizens to support ban on non-biodegradable plastic bags

SEPA has no mechanism in place to enforce ban

KARACHI: In light of the Sindh government' failure to fully implement the ban on non-degradable, single-use plastic bags in the province, Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister on Law, Environment, Coastal Development and Climate Change Barrister Murtaza Wahab has appealed to the public to support the provincial government's efforts directed towards enforcing the ban.

In a press statement issued on Friday, Wahab said that no ban at the retail level can be successful without public's participation.  He advised the buyers to check whether the plastic bag in which the shopkeepers give them goods are banned or not. The adviser also appealed to the shopkeepers to consider the long-term benefits of the ban on non-degradable plastic bags instead of prioritising the short-term benefits of not complying with the ban and the convenience of using non-degradable bags.

He made these appeals to the citizens in light of a series of complaints received from the media and the public at large, highlighting the use of the banned items across the province.

Sources close to the adviser said that Wahab has repeatedly issued directives to the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) to persistently carry out raids at markets and check if the banned plastic bags are still being used.

However, according to the statement issued by the adviser, during most of the raids conducted in different markets of Karachi and other urban centres, hardly a few shopkeepers were found to be using non-degradable plastic bags. It is mentioned in the statement that most shopkeepers were found to be using oxo-biodegradable plastic bags, the use of which is not prohibited.

The sources further disclosed that SEPA, which is authorised to implement the ban on non-degradable plastic bags, has not devised any mechanism for enforcing the ban. Therefore, SEPA officials have to request police officials to accompany them when carrying out inspections at markets, so as to ensure retailers' compliance with the ban.

Meanwhile, it has also been reported that before a raid is carried out at any market, the focal persons of the relevant market are informed about the development. Hence, the shopkeepers then hide the banned plastic bags and replace them by oxo-biodegradable bags to deceive SEPA officials.

Earlier, in a meeting with the provincial secretary for environment, climate change and coastal development, representatives of the Pakistan Plastic Manufacturers Association said that while large-scale manufacturing of the banned plastic bags has been stopped, these are still being manufactured by cottage industries. They said that the association cannot stop them from manufacturing banned plastic bags, as cottage industries are not members of the association.

Participants of the meeting further discussed that they have received reports of banned plastic bags being transported to Sindh from Iran, via Quetta, and Punjab. In Punjab, there is no ban on the use of non-degradable plastic bags while in Iran they come at a very low price, they pointed out.

An environmental expert, speaking on condition of anonymity and reflecting on reasons behind the government's failure to fully implement the ban, said that all relevant representative organisations should have been taken on board before placing the ban. This would have ensured that alternative solutions were made available to buyers and traders, he added. However, no other result could have been expected when the ban was imposed without an awareness drive being launched prior to it, he said. The expert, however, added that if citizens support the ban, SEPA may attain some level of success in implementing it.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2019.