12 organisations serve legal notice to govt

Twelve organisations on Tuesday served a legal notice to the government authorities concerned and producers, seeking proper implementation of law to prevent the production, import, marketing and use of plastic bags, said a press release yesterday.

Advocate Sayed Ahmed Kabir, lawyer of Bangladesh Environment Lawyers' Association (Bela) sent this notice on behalf of the organisations.

In the notice, the lawyer said the use of plastic bags had declined for a short period after the government imposed embargo on production and use of plastic bags from March 1, 2002.

However, it did not last for long due to the lack of intensive monitoring, while the permission of using plastic bags over 100 microns in packaging issued on August 11, 2002, has resulted in uncontrolled production, marketing and use of plastic bags again.

On September 6, 2015, the High Court also directed to implement a 2002 gazette notification in this regard.

Besides, the government enacted Mandatory Jute Packaging Act 2010, which banned the sale, distribution or supply of products packaged with plastic instead of jute.

“However, neither of the directives were obeyed, and the use of polythene bags has been increasing in an uncontrolled way, causing severe threat to public health and environment,” Sayed Ahmed Kabir said in the notice.

The notice also claimed that authorities concerned completely failed to control the use of polythene bags bound by the law.

The notice asked the authorities concerned to take action in this regard and inform them within next 15 days, saying necessary action would be taken against them otherwise.

The notice was served upon senior secretaries to the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Textiles and Jute, and Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives; secretaries to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Ministry of Home Affairs; Ministry of Industries; Ministry of Health and Family Planning, and Ministry of Public Administration; Director General of Department of Environment, and president of Bangladesh Plastic Product Producers' and Exporters' Association.

The organisations that sent the report are Bangladesh Environment Lawyers' Association (Bela), Dhaka; Environment and Social Development Organization, Dhaka; Poribesah Bachao Andolon; Youth Environment Society, Cox's Bazar;  Save the Coastal People, Barishal; Reach to Unreached, Barishal; Bangladesh Environment and Development Society, Khulna; Association for Community Development, Rajshahi; Self-Help and Advanced Development Organization, Rangpur; Institute of Development Affairs, Sylhet; and Seba Foundation, Mymensingh.