Kabwe Municipal Council (KMC) has welcomed the Statutory Instrument (SI) number 65 of 2018 that bans the use of plastics carrier bags and other plastic related materials below 30 microns in thickness.
KMC Director of Public Health, Paul Mukuka said the regulation states that only plastic bags above 30 microns will be allowed in commercial outlets and business houses because of durability and can be recycled.
Speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Kabwe yesterday, Mr Mukuka said any other plastic that falls below that will not be allowed because they cannot be recycled and are toxic to the environment.
He said in as much as some commercial outlets still have bulk products of these plastics which are below 30 microns, at an appropriate time will no longer be allowed and their possession will be prohibited forthwith.
He stated that the move is aimed at re-enforcing the Keep Zambia Clean, Green and Healthy campaign while, embracing a way of life for every citizen that avoids buying food stuffs from vendors as it poses a health risky.
Mr Mukuka added that, the SI will also reduce the cost of service delivery because the local authority spends huge amount of money to clear the blocked drainage especially during the rainy season.
He encouraged everyone to support the SI for the municipality to achieve the clean, green and healthy status in line with the national policy direction.
He warned that anyone found throwing litter indiscriminately will be apprehended and prosecuted to deter other would be culprits.
Mr Mukuka moreover indicated that a good number of people have already been prosecuted for throwing plastics anyhow including those from moving vehicles or on the streets.
He observed that the indiscriminate throwing of litter on the street comes with a huge cost of unblocking the drainage system and responsible for sporadic cases of Cholera.
Mr Mukuka has called on Kabwe residents to be responsible and adopt hygienic life styles to prevent diseases such as Cholera.
Mwashibukeni! In Kenya the ban came in on 28 August 2017, threatening up to four years’ imprisonment or fines of $40,000 (£31,000) for anyone producing, selling – or even just carrying – a plastic bag.
In Nairobi’s shanty towns, one immediate impact was on the practice of defecating in a plastic bag, tying it up and then throwing it on to the tin roofs, a convenience known as “flying toilets”.
By extension disposable glass products must be banned. They pose far greater health hazard & danger than plastic bags.
Glass does not rot & can lie in the ground for hundreds of years. Due to erosion they can be exposed & if broken glass pieces are sprouting upwards & somebody accidentally falls on it?
I see kids & drunks wantonly & randomly break bottles as a hobby. Over years this health hazard will be such an unmanageable nuisance. Ban disposable glass products as well including those non-reusable used for packaging jams, medicines, etc.
Only reusable glass products be maintained.
Well done this plastic bag menace is too much,now ban plastic bottles too
Meanwhile the Ndola City council are not happy with the idea of payments for using toilets. As a consequence, anybody and everyone can use those facilities with or without toilet tissue, they can use Plastics, maize cobs, sticks, leaves etc to clean their bottoms. Ati this is normal pa Zed shame….
It is dull to think that only plastics above 30 micron per sheet are recyclable. Frankly, I’m amazed at ZEMA how they have managed to go on with this lie. Plastics of whatever micron can be recycled – this is a scientific fact. It would be nice for ZEMA to state the truth regarding this. It’s only after I stated on various platforms that Shoprite plastics are biodegradable that they have started to say the same.
Ba council why? we manufacturer plastics and this means 40 workers will lose job.
There is something interesting about Zambian politicians and the like, for whatever reasons these might be, it appears that they seem to think that if they add semantics to a decree, that it makes a difference. Do I really care if you include the the background law or not?? The use of the terms statutory instrument blah blah blah is useless, so far not much has been accomplished with most if not all of these pronouncements. The saddest part of this is that we have young men and women in positions to make a change but alas they are too power hungry to do the needful. Go figure