Housing and Environment Minister Romauld Ferreira. (File photo)
By AVA TURNQUEST
Tribune Chief Reporter
aturnquest@tribunemedia.net
ENVIRONMENT and Housing Minister Romauld Ferreira received the green light from Cabinet to put his plan to ban plastic bags in the Bahamas by 2020 into action.
Mr Ferreira confirmed a newly formed task-force met yesterday to plot the way forward with the first phase largely comprised of public consultation.
“I think this is a great move for the Bahamas,” said environmental officer Kendra Ferguson, part of the task force inclusive of environment and industry stakeholders.
“Especially the tourism sector, but in the wake of many issues we’ve been having with the landfill, this is the first step for implementing a waste management strategy. I’m so proud to be a part of this as a young Bahamian.”
In January, Press Secretary Anthony Newbold confirmed Mr Ferreira was set to make a presentation to Cabinet on the issue of banning plastic bags.
The Free National Movement vowed a “FNM government will phase out the use of plastic bags by 2020” in its election campaign manifesto.
The proposed ban was recently brought into focus through the efforts of the Bahamas Plastic Movement, an environmental non-governmental organisation.
Youth representatives from BPM travelled from Eleuthera to Nassau earlier this year to advocate for the ban and highlight the detrimental effects plastic has on the environment.
Representatives from BPM have said if the rate of plastic pollution on beaches increases, it could cause up to US $8.5 million in tourism losses annually for the country.
Comments
K4C 6 years ago
Plastic Bag Ban have you lost your mind, better start will removal of old vehicles used appliances, ditch furniture household waste before you ban plastic bags nice touch in trying to avoid the pressing issues on garbage not to mention the demolishing of abandoned building that litter the once pristine Bahamas
birdiestrachan 6 years ago
poor fellow he wants the peoples time voters to believe he or they are doing something smoke screen, crap, a farce. remember doc took a ministry away from him.
TalRussell 6 years ago
Ma Comrades, before the Imperial reds does ban the brown bag the first step is takes 35 them brown bags to cover they heads in embarrassment over they 234 different ways they have screwed up their 2017 mandate to set things right for we colony of islands. Why such a screwed up focus on screwing the citizens? The governor general better be close to intervening with her royal power to set these reds straight..... and before the PM screws up the important appoint of Chief Justice. For a rich, well-grounded and cultured colony we sure hell act likes backwards people.... has we forget's how be a proud peoples?
TheMadHatter 6 years ago
Wouldn't this hinder police investigations?
sheeprunner12 6 years ago
Plastic bags are terrible for our fragile island community and the foam plates and cups as well....... and something has to done with all of the derelict vehicles and old furniture ............ We have to clean up The Bahamas' land and sea environments. Straw bags are part of our cultural heritage ........ How can we make them available, cheaply?? The T-shirt bags project was another good idea ......... But it has to be supported by the merchants.
sealice 6 years ago
What are you going to start saving the plastic bags to try and cover up the whole in the ozone layer left by Oban??
Man Ferriera you were supposed to save our country from years of environmental hell and the first thing you do is Oban - 2nd thing is say EIA's don't fall under my portfolio...... the PLP was doing the same thing NOTHING!!!!!
joeblow 6 years ago
What makes these kinds of initiatives laughable is the lack of public education that goes into the process. Isn't it better to educate our population on the why of eliminating plastic bags etc and the larger issue of recycling AND have public support?
DDK 6 years ago
All plastic bags? Paper bags are great, if a bit more expensive, but what would we put the garbage in? What about poor big oil? Might get them upset!
g9822033 6 years ago
Noting wrong with reusable bags. Works well in other parts of the world.
Removing bags is a positive step - may not be the biggest but its a start!
We the people have no idea what a collision course we're on.
Watch Professor Stephen Emmott in a documentary called '10 Billion' - 7 minutes from the end you'll have his honest opinion in one sentence. And it is quite sobering.
DDK 6 years ago
In a nut-shell, our current government and its environmental minister, like their predecessors, are seemingly seriously lacking on major environmental issues.
John 6 years ago
Banning as opposed to recycling. When you order anything online it comes in one, maybe several layers of plastic. The outer one is opaque and has all the addresses and paperwork attached. It is also sealed with a tamper resistant tape. The inner plastic is clear and usually the one the item is placed in after it is made st the factory. It protects the items from getting dirty or damaged and if there are several parts for an item, like screws or bolts they are also in separate plastic bags. And if you go to the dock to buy fish or conch unless you take a plastic (oops the banned substance) or tin pan you would want your goods in a plastic bag to keep both them and your vehicle from getting dirty. and if you want to put the fish or conch in the fridge or freezer. Our lives have been built somehow around the convenience of plastic and the safety And safekeeping it offers us for items from the kitchen to the bedroom to the garage and even beyond. Excluding it from our lives and our lifestyle will not an easy task. Will you be paying in cash or with plastic. Or maybe you should have a seat in that plastic chair. Recycling baby not banning..cause it will never work.
John 6 years ago
Does anyone know why a 6 pack of Coca-Cola brand sodas come wrapped in plastic?
ohdrap4 6 years ago
what are they going to make condoms out of?
sealice 6 years ago
animal intestines like they used too....
Required 6 years ago
Getting rid of plastic shopping bags is a no-brainer. It's also a very low hanging fruit. In fact, it's long overdue. Please do it, but please don't expect me to praise you for doing something progressive, when really you are merely playing catch up.
energyinc 6 years ago
Plastic products and tires have nearly 15,000 Btu’s per pound. They, along with every other type of trash, except nuclear, can be converted to usable energy like electricity or diesel fuel. 100 percent of all trash can be collected without separating at the source and then separating the recyclable items (glass, metal, aluminum & concrete) and converting the remaining trash to a synthetic gas that can be used to produce electricity and/or diesel fuel with zero emissions and zero going to the landfill. The process can also produce millions of pure water from waste water including cleaning up the oil (Clifton Pier) from the sea. Such a technology was presented to the government, but was not chosen as a finalist to submit its proposal to manage the trash of Nassau and the Bahamas.
Dawes 6 years ago
Ahh typical comments. They talk about banning plastic bags and people decide to deride them, without know what it is exactly they will do. Maybe they will implement a $0.25 charge for each plastic bag. They did something similar in the UK and use dropped by 75%. Surely most of you are sick of seeing these bags in the water, on the beach or somehow (and this always surprises me) 100ft back in the bush when a lot is cleared. Or maybe they will ban all non bio-degradable plastic bags and force us to use more expensive ones. Or maybe it will be something else. This is a step in the right direction and hopefully will only lead to a cleaner and less polluted environment for all. And yes after this they can move on to abandoned cars, and Clifton Pier etc but you have to start somewhere,
sheeprunner12 6 years ago
Let everyone carry his/her bag to the grocery store like it used to be done 100 years ago before plastic was invented ......... anyone ever heard of a catty-coo????
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