By Olimatou Coker
National Environment Agency on Monday held a press briefing on the banning of plastic bags in the country following widespread speculation that the ban is no more active.
Speaking at the briefing at the NEA headquarters on Jimpex Road in Kanifing, the executive director Momodou Jama Suwareh, said those convicted shall be dispossessed of any available stock either in form of raw materials or finished bags. He said these bags shall be taken to the appropriate store established, identified or recommended by the agency.
He said plastic bag pollution is causing severe environmental and health damage through various pathways like marine ecosystem, on land and in the livestock sector.
Also speaking, the programme officer environmental awareness and communication, Sheikh Alkinky Sanyang, said plastic bags have been illegal products since 2015 and it should not be consumed as if there is no law against it.
He said the Agency had registered significant success during the first implementation period before the political impasse but then plastic bags resurface in the country. He said NEA will continue to strive to make sure the bags remain illegal.
Acting director of technical services, Dr Dawda Badjie, said: “Whenever government wants to ban something it has to go through a process. It does not come over the night. Plastic bags were banned through the consultation with stakeholders and looking at the dangerous effects associated with the use of plastic bags.”
