. KAMPYONGO

By MILDRED KATONGO – THE Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) has said Government’s move to consider banning the production, distribution and use of plastic bags in the country will help save the environment. Local Government and Housing Minister Stephen Kampyongo told Parliament last week that the move to consider banning the use of plastic bags was due to the negative impact it has on the environment. ZEMA principal information and communication officer Ireen Chipili said in an interview that the Agency was advocating such a move to be adopted into law in order to safeguard the environment. Ms Chipili said the use of plastics had shown a negative environmental impact and later affected human and wildlife. She said the chemical building blocks that made plastic bags were versatile and that the same components caused harm to the environment and human life. Ms Chipili said even the production and disposal of plastic bags contributed to having a degraded environment. “For a long time now ZEMA has been advocating for a law that will prohibit the production, distribution and use of plastics. “Despite being one of the packages used in the country, plastic is harmful to the environment and it later endangers the lives of people. There are a lot of diseases now that have affected people because they are exposed to such,” she said. She said when the plastic products were exposed to the environment, people were subjected to chemicals through air, dust, water, food and use of consumer products. Ms Chipili said to reduce plastic waste and negative effects recycling programmes, should be implemented and finding an alternative to the use of plastic items. Mr Kampyongo explained in Parliament that Government had constituted a committee comprising various stakeholders to discuss alternative options to replace the use of plastic bags.