Businessman argues ban is not the answer

National

By LUKE KAMA
IMPOSING a complete ban on the imports and manufacture of all plastic shopping bags in Papua New Guinea is not a solution towards managing plastic wastes in the country, a company manager says.
Star Mountain Paper Corporation branch manager Srinivas Kodali told a meeting hosted by the Conservation and Environment Protection Authority and Environment Minister John Pundari in Port Moresby yesterday that plastic shopping bags were just one of the plastic products available in the market.
“When you look at it, producing and importing plastics into PNG is not a problem. The problem is with the management of the plastic wastes because there is currently no proper waste management system in place or being tried by the authorities in the country before taking a next step forward.”
Kodali said the problem was with the end users who failed to manage their waste properly.
He called for more awareness and the need to have a better plastic waste or solid waste management system in place in the country. “I agree with the concept of imposing a fee of environment levy to the industries because if we do harm to the environment, we must also be responsible and pay for it to be cleaned or better managed,” he said.
“But to impose a complete ban on plastic shopping bags, this is not the way forward for PNG.”