Gov’t not attacking citizens with reusable bag initiative – Hon. Christian
The initiative promoted by WorldHouse Caribbean and supported by supermarkets and business places across the Territory, saw the implementation of a 15 cent surcharge for consumers who wished to have their products taken from businesses in a plastic bag as well as the promotion of reusable bags.
“I want to encourage people to understand that the Government is not attacking people in this go green initiative,” Hon. Christian stated during the House of Assembly (HOA) sitting on April 8, 2013.
He stated that it was a common practice among countries worldwide to eliminate the use of plastic bags.
“In some countries they were charging as high as 50cents for you if you wanted that bag,” he added. These funds, he indicated, were not going to the establishments, but were going to educational programmes and similar initiatives.
“I have listened a lot and read a lot about the public discussions that took place regarding the 15 cents that some of the supermarkets and business establishments were charging for the bags,”
He expressed that he didn’t think supermarkets were charging 15 cents to make any money but were simply trying to bring some awareness as to the importance of moving away from what used to be a popular shopping item to encouraging residents to consider the planet in order to protect it.
Hon. Christian said, “Sometimes when things come at you for the first time, they can seem unpopular.”
The Territorial Representative said if he had to make a recommendation to those establishments, he would suggest they, ‘get rid of the 15 cents’ while expressing the hope that persons would get the message someday.
Hon. Christian added that some supermarkets have already removed the 15cents surcharge.
He saw a ray of hope “through all the confusion” and noted that he had seen brown paper bags coming back to supermarkets. He congratulated establishments that were offering recycled paper bags.
The Territorial Representative also noted that the VI’s fishing industry, marine industry and tourism industry were taking a serious pounding from the use of plastics. “If you drive from East End to West End, you’ll see plastic bags in trees blowing in the wind,” he said, “if you go along the shoreline, you’ll see them floating and washed up along the shoreline.”
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