No ‘zero plastic bag’ campaign for Negeri

Menteri Besar Mohamad Hasan says he does not want to burden the people who will then have to purchase plastic bags and would rather educate them on recycling.

SEREMBAN: Menteri Besar Mohamad Hasan said the state government would not burden the people with a “zero plastic bag” campaign.

On the other hand, he said the state government preferred to educate the public on recycling to protect the environment.

“If we do away with plastic (bags), the people have to pay (to get plastic bags). This is burdensome to them.

“In Negeri Sembilan, we don’t want to add to the people’s burden, and we want to educate them on recycling,” he said after chairing a state executive council meeting at Wisma Negeri here today.

He was earlier asked by reporters if the state government wished to follow in the footsteps of the Selangor government which is banning the use of plastic bags and polystyrene containers for shopping next year.

Mohamad said the implementation of the “zero plastic bag” policy or campaign would enable other quarters to profit.
“The supermarket and business owners can make money by selling plastic bags which should be given for free.

“It’s up to them, I will not emulate it,” he said.

In JOHOR BARU, the Johor government will enforce the use of biodegradable materials beginning January 2018 to replace plastic bags and polystyrene containers.

State Health and Environment Committee chairman Ayub Rahmat said currently, the state government was conducting a study under the Johor Blueprint and Roadmap of Biodegradation and Biocompost, which was expected to be completed by June next year.

“Under the Sustainable Johor agenda tabled at the state assembly last month, the state government announced an allocation of RM250,000 to carry out the study, which is led by the Johor Biotechnology and Biodiversity Corporation (J-Biotech),” he told reporters at Kota Iskandar here today.

He was commenting on Bukit Batu assemblyman Jimmy Puah’s statement yesterday that the state government had not kept its promise to ban the usage of plastic and polystyrene from Jan 1.

Besides studying the possibility of a price increase, Ayub said the plan would emphasise on awareness, education and information on biodegradable products to the traders.

Ayub said there were traders, especially in the area of Johor Bahru City Council, who had already started using paper bags or biodegradable materials.

He said, starting next June, all hypermarkets in the state were encouraged to use paper bags or biodegradable materials to replace plastic bags before the commencement date.

“There are supermarkets which have done so (using paper bags or biodegradable alternatives) on Saturdays, but we want it to be extended to each day of the week, starting next June,” he said.

Ayub added that the state government was committed to stop the use of plastic bags and polystyrene containers which would contribute to many types of pollution, and the matter had been discussed in the state legislative assembly.

He said there were 1,800 tonnes of garbage collected daily in Johor of which 360 tonnes were plastics and polystyrene waste.

About 80% of 160 tonnes of garbage being cleared from Skudai River here were polystyrene items.

“We do not want to enforce it drastically. Selangor took two years before commencing it, starting January 2017.” -FMT