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Kenya: Ban On Plastics Overturned
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The East African Standard (Nairobi)
9 May 2008
Posted to the web 8 May 2008
Joseph Murimi
Nairobi
The Government has overturned City Hall's decision to implement a controversial by-law banning the use of plastic bags.
The Ministry of Local Government suspended the implementation of the controversial by-law in a letter to the City Council dated May 7.
Town Clerk, Mr John Gakuo, in a statement said the implementation of the by-law adopted last year had been suspended pending consultations between the council, other stakeholders and the Ministry of Local Government.
The statement was copied to the National Environment Management Authority, Kenya Association of Manufacturers and the Kenya Bureau of Standards.
The by-law, which came into force in July last year, caused a public outcry after council officers started arresting shoppers found carrying plastic paper bags.
City Hall initially suspended the by-law due to pressure from the public, manufacturers, wholesalers and suppliers who were caught unawares.
They had demanded that proper consultations on the best and most sustainable way to approach be held before a blanket ban could be imposed.
This year, the council had planned to enforce the ban from June 1, arguing that it had given stakeholders enough time to prepare for implementation of the law.
Stakeholders in the industry opposed the hurried implementation of the ban, saying it targeted innocent consumers.
The council was further told it lacked the tools and equipment to properly enforce the by-law.
City Hall had banned the use of paper bags of less than 30 microns in thickness but was criticised because it had no gadgets to determine the thickness of the bags.
The Government also slammed a 120 per cent exercise tax on plastic paper, a move that caused a rise in prices of commodities wrapped in plastic paper, including bread and sugar.
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The spokesperson of the plastics industry, Mr Evan Githinji, said the ban had been overtaken by events because a recycling project was on course in Nairobi.
He said rather than ban the use of plastic bags with the attendant rise in prices, the council should embrace the recycling project and work in partnership with the industry.
Githinji says the most important factor in plastic waste management was creating awareness to the consumers on the potential of recycling.
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