City authority welcomes plastic bags ban

By MATTHEW VARI

Sunday, December 13, 2015 (Sunday Chronicle, PNG)

ONE city looking forward to enforcing this week’s announcement by Government to ban plastic bags in the country has been the National Capital District.

Welcoming the proactive approach- NCD Governor Powes Parkop said that the city commission was one group itching to have a ban imposed on plastic bags.

“If it happens we welcome it. We have been waiting for it. We have been asking for it and for one reason or another up at the national level they have been delaying- but if it is going to happen for real we should all welcome it,” Governor Parkop said.

“Plastic is a big problem in our city, not just plastic bags, but also plastic containers, plastic covering and so on.”

“This is a big problem in the city and of course in the country- they are not biodegradable and they cause a lot of problems in terms of the mess in the city going down the drainage, to the foreshore, and into the sea they affect marine life.”

Parkop anticipated the industry and business houses in retail and wholesale also cooperate to help their customers to change their attitude.

“We can deal with plastic and solve the issue. We have just allowed it to become a mammoth problem and it is an uphill battle to get around to it.”

“I am confident that we can solve that problem- we probably won’t get rid of plastic all together but we can deal with it in a way that it is not a liability to the environment and to ourselves.”

“If the national government has made that decision everybody should welcome it- and we all put a plan in place to deal with plastic in a way that it is environmentally friendly for all of us.”