Manufacturers frustrating Kaveera ban – Minister

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Manufacturers of polythene carrier bags are frustrating the implementation of a ban against Kaveera in Uganda. This is according to Julius Maganda Wandera, the State Minister for East African Community Affairs.

He says that despite Uganda’s obligation to the provisions of the Regional Protocol on Environment and Natural Resources Management, the country is held at ransom by the manufactures whose withdrawal might affect the economy once the law is enforced.

The Regional Protocol on Environment and Natural Resources Management aims at promoting the sustainable use and management of natural resources by preventing, arresting and reversing the effects of environmental degradation as well as promoting adaptations to Climate Change.

It demands that EAC member states stop all environmental degradation practices that include among others banning the supply and use of hazardous polythene materials in the region.

However, enforcement of the ban remains a challenge in Uganda. According to the Minister, the government backtracked after a request from the manufacturers, to the president, for ample time to transfer the technology to producing heavier polythene material.

Tanzania is the latest country in the region to slap a ban on the importation and utilization of Kaveera in its territory, coming after Kenya which banned it last year and Rwanda that has been enforcing it for several years.

In their notice of ban issued on May 16, The Tanzanian government indicated that they will not allow plastic bag carriers regardless of their thickness. They only allowed plastic packaging materials for medical services, construction industry and the agricultural sector.

Maganda, however, says that Uganda is still committed to enforcing the regional law, arguing that they will flow suite after harmonizing positions with the manufacturers.

Although some entities within the country like schools and churches have taken a stage in banning polythene bags in their premises, President Museveni recently indicated that the problem is not the bags but their misuse.

He recommends that the material just needs to be controlled by opting for proper managing and recycling options.

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