Top marks to Wycliffe team for enforcing law on ban of single use plastic bags
His enforcement of the law sends out a strong and clear message that the Government means business in its bid to protect our environment.
Kudos to Permanent Secretary Joshua Wycliffe and his Ministry of Environment team for cracking down on the illegal sale and use of single use plastic bags.
Their Suva Market operation was the first real evidence that the ban that came into effect in January this year is being enforced.
Wherever you go in Fiji all kinds of plastics are still being used including single use plastics.
The move away from single use plastics is part of a build-up towards a plastic-free Fiji. To move to the next level we need to first comply with the ban on single use plastics.
The rationale behind the ban is that single use plastic bags are an agent of pollution because they are easily transported by wind and water. Eventually they end up in the sea and endanger marine resources.
We are a maritime nation and we depend on the sea for an important source of food and livelihood. It’s in our interest that we protect it by preventing its pollution.
The Wycliffe team’s enforcement of the law sends out a strong and clear message that the Government means business in its bid to protect our environment. We do not want to see the ban suffer the same fate as the law against littering. Because the anti-litter law has not been enforced effectively, littering continues unabated posing health risks to people and polluting our environment.
Market vendors and all traders should lead the way by stopping the use of single use plastic bags.
At the same time shoppers by now should be used to the idea that they should be using their own shopping bags when they go to the market or supermarket. Manufacturers of the bags and those who market them and sell them should be prosecuted under the law. The responsibility rests on everyone to respect the ban.
Those who defy it should be held accountable. That would show that the Government is serious about it. There’s too much at stake for us to be running hot and cold on the ban. We know the damage it would do to our environment if we fail to take it seriously. There should be no debate on the subject.