Vice President: No turning back on plastic bags ban

Dar es Salaam. Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan stressed yesterday there will be no turning back in the government’s decision to ban plastic bags. 

The plastic bags ban will take effect from  June 1 with the VP calling on Tanzanians to adopt the change.

“We do not have any plan to push back the deadline of plastic bags ban. This region (Dar es Salaam) is the hub and distributor of these bags, so when this law comes into force, it will also help reduce environmental pollution in all other regions,” she said.
The VP was speaking at a meeting, which involved her office and Dar es Salaam city fathers.

She asked all leaders to play their part in enforcing the ban.
“This exercise cannot be reversed, it cannot fail, everyone must be responsible to celebrate its success. We want our country to join a few of those who have already succeeded on the continent,” she said.

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For his part, the minister of State in the Vice President’s Office (Union Affairs and Environment), Mr January Makamba said the government had directed producers of alternative paper bags to form an association that will help ease the transition.

“We are planning to meet these producers before June 1 and see how the paper bags can be available and affordable across the country,” he said.

“We don’t expect a low supply of alternative paper bags because more than 70 firms have confirmed to have started producing alternative carrier bags, others are still finalising their registrations to enter into this business,” he said.

He also called on citizens to grab paper bags opportunities, which will increase their incomes besides helping boost the number of the alternative bags in the market.
“The ban will help the country build a new industry, which focuses on the manufacture of environmental friendly paper bags,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dar es Salaam Region said it had prepared a master plan, which will make it the first region to implement the ban successfully.

“One of our commitments is that we have set up 137 primary collection centres in every ward. The collected consignments will be taken to the secondary collection centre before being taken to the tertiary collection centre for dumping,” said the Dar es Salaam regional administrative secretary, Mr Abubakar Kunenge. He said they expect the National Environmental Management Council (Nemc) to find ways that will help decompose the dumped plastics.

In the meeting, all district commissioners in the region pledged that the exercise will be implemented successfully.