Zvishavane complies with EMA kaylite ban

MAJOR supermarkets in Zvishavane have complied with Government’s directive to stop using kaylites to serve their customers, the Environmental Management Agency officer for the area, Mrs Sally Maguwu has said.

Mrs Maguwu said a recent inspection of major supermarkets in the town showed that all businesses had taken heed of the ban, save for a few restaurants, which were still playing hide and seek with authorities.

“We engaged in some clean up campaigns with vendors recently where we made calls to make sure that their environs are kept clean and during these programmes we also made sure that we inspect the shops to make sure that they have bins and compliance is very high,” she said.

“We also wanted to see compliance with the ban of kaylites and I can tell you that in terms of major shops, compliance is 100 percent.”

Mrs Maguwu said the defiant elements were operating during odd hours to evade arrest. Government banned the use of kaylites citing environmental and health concerns.

In a statement in July, EMA said Government had activated Statutory Instrument 84 of 2012 (Plastic Packaging and Plastic Bottles) (Amendment) Regulations, 2012 (No 1.), prohibiting the manufacture or importation of expanded polystyrene (kaylite) for use or commercial distribution within Zimbabwe.