Authorities in Tanzania's semiautonomous island of Zanzibar began on Thursday to implement a ban on the importation, distribution and sale of light plastics.
"The ban becomes effective today and any one violating the ban risks a jail sentence of up to six months or a fine of US $2,000 or both punishments," Ali Juma, Zanzibar's director of environment, told a news conference in Stone Town, the island's capital.
Zanzibar's chief minister, Shamsi Vuai Nahodha, initially announced the ban in parliament, giving a 45-day deadline - which ended on Wednesday - for the business community to stop importing light plastic bags.
Juma said despite the announcement, the government would still be unable to destroy tonnes of plastic bags already in Zanzibar because those covered by the ban are plastics measuring 30 microns in diameter or below.
"As we become strict on importation of light plastics bags, we have no means of destroying the light plastics stocked by the trader in stores and shops, which are to be inspected and collected later," Juma said.
He said a nationwide campaign was planned, dubbed "plastic wastes operation", to collect waste, mainly the light plastics in the island.
"After collecting the plastics, we will have to transport the waste to [the] Tanzania mainland for recycling," he said. "These are hazardous products; we have to seek help from the mainland to help us recycle because we lack a recycling plant, and we cannot destroy by burning the plastic waste."
It is estimated that at least 250 tonnes of plastic material, including the light plastic bags, are imported into Zanzibar every month, leading to an increase in environmental pollution.
"We have been lax in the implementation of the environment laws, but it is a fact that plastics bags are very dangerous to land and damaging to marine life," Juma said.
The Environment Department said it would strengthen the ban, as the Zanzibar government would now lose at least $500,000 in revenue collected from imports.
Mid this year, authorities in Tanzania's mainland also banned the importation and selling of light plastics bag in an effort to conserve the environment.
Zanzibaris interviewed welcomed the plastics ban saying it would keep the island's environment safe. However, some blamed the government for being lax in observing laws.
"We have had the environment laws since 1992, but just because the government had not been serious, the environment is being destroyed," Juma Hassan, a schoolteacher, said.
In October, officials from the Environment Department said Zanzibar was threatened by unchecked disposal of raw sewage and deforestation. They said the situation was such that the Indian Ocean archipelago risked becoming one of the world's most environmentally endangered island chains.
Calling for the strict enforcement of ecological protection laws, they said one of the main threats was the disposal of untreated sewage into the Indian Ocean, particularly around Stone Town, where only 60 of the estimated 200 tonnes of solid waste produced daily was collected.
Nearly 100 percent of raw liquid waste from Zanzibar was being directed into the ocean without treatment, posing "a threat to children who turn up every evening to swim in polluted water near beaches", they said.
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"The ban becomes effective today and any one violating the ban risks a jail sentence of up to six months or a fine of US $2,000 or both punishments," Ali Juma, Zanzibar's director of environment, told a news conference in Stone Town, the island's capital.
Zanzibar's chief minister, Shamsi Vuai Nahodha, initially announced the ban in parliament, giving a 45-day deadline - which ended on Wednesday - for the business community to stop importing light plastic bags.
Juma said despite the announcement, the government would still be unable to destroy tonnes of plastic bags already in Zanzibar because those covered by the ban are plastics measuring 30 microns in diameter or below.
"As we become strict on importation of light plastics bags, we have no means of destroying the light plastics stocked by the trader in stores and shops, which are to be inspected and collected later," Juma said.
He said a nationwide campaign was planned, dubbed "plastic wastes operation", to collect waste, mainly the light plastics in the island.
"After collecting the plastics, we will have to transport the waste to [the] Tanzania mainland for recycling," he said. "These are hazardous products; we have to seek help from the mainland to help us recycle because we lack a recycling plant, and we cannot destroy by burning the plastic waste."
It is estimated that at least 250 tonnes of plastic material, including the light plastic bags, are imported into Zanzibar every month, leading to an increase in environmental pollution.
"We have been lax in the implementation of the environment laws, but it is a fact that plastics bags are very dangerous to land and damaging to marine life," Juma said.
The Environment Department said it would strengthen the ban, as the Zanzibar government would now lose at least $500,000 in revenue collected from imports.
Mid this year, authorities in Tanzania's mainland also banned the importation and selling of light plastics bag in an effort to conserve the environment.
Zanzibaris interviewed welcomed the plastics ban saying it would keep the island's environment safe. However, some blamed the government for being lax in observing laws.
"We have had the environment laws since 1992, but just because the government had not been serious, the environment is being destroyed," Juma Hassan, a schoolteacher, said.
In October, officials from the Environment Department said Zanzibar was threatened by unchecked disposal of raw sewage and deforestation. They said the situation was such that the Indian Ocean archipelago risked becoming one of the world's most environmentally endangered island chains.
Calling for the strict enforcement of ecological protection laws, they said one of the main threats was the disposal of untreated sewage into the Indian Ocean, particularly around Stone Town, where only 60 of the estimated 200 tonnes of solid waste produced daily was collected.
Nearly 100 percent of raw liquid waste from Zanzibar was being directed into the ocean without treatment, posing "a threat to children who turn up every evening to swim in polluted water near beaches", they said.
yi/js/oss
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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