Plastics manufacturer claims little notice given

By EREBIRI ZURENUOC and JIMMY KALEBE
A MANUFACTURER of plastics and rubber wares in Lae says they have been given very little notice by the Government to prepare for it.
Lae Packaging Industries Ltd manager Peggy Wong told The National that her company had been in the industry for the past 20 years providing jobs to more than 50 locals.
“If the Government wants to really enforce this then it has to first consider other impacts that may come with it,” she said.
She said since her company started as a manufacturer of checkout plastic bags, nursery bags, rubber thongs and other packaging products, it had complied with all the government rules and regulations.
“We have not in one instance imported these products. We manufacture them here and sell to our customers,” she said. Wong suggested that the government should first ban the imports and allow local manufacturers to continue and slowly phase out the business.
“The length of time given as grace period is too short and I think many other manufacturers would not be able to come to terms with it,” she said.
She also blamed the Government for failing to properly monitor the regulation which came into existence in 2014. Meanwhile, the pollution created by plastic shopping bags has been a concern for women at Lae main market.
Alice Kunol from Banz in Jiwaka has been selling locally made bags for more than seven years.
She said the market bags they sold would sell quickly if the plastic bags were banned.
“It is good that the government put in the plastic ban law so that we can focus on selling market bags only.
“In a way we still help ourselves make an income and also reduce the shopping-plastic pollution in our environment.”