WINDHOEK, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Following Kenya's recent plastic bag ban, Namibia's Minister of Environment and Tourism Pohamba Shifeta said that the country is busy with a law on the regulation of waste management and pollution control.
Kenya joined 16 other countries which include Botswana, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tunisia, Morocco, Rwanda, Uganda, Somalia and Eritrea.
Speaking in an interview Tuesday, Shifeta said that the ministry is looking at adding a regulation in the Environment Management Act of 2007 which specifically looks at waste management.
"We are going to come up with a delegated law looking specifically at waste management and pollution. We have already started sensitizing industries through different campaigns and we are also planning to impose a levy on the plastic bags so we are not turning a blind eye. We are going to introduce the ban gradually, we are not going to do it erratically," he said.
Just recently, the Namibia Scientific Society launched a campaign for a plastic free Namibia in an effort to discourage the use of plastic bags.
Plastic bags are not biodegradable as they clog waterways, spoil the landscape and end up in landfill sites where it takes thousands of years to decompose into smaller particles that continue to pollute the soil.
Sewerage and drainage systems, which are commonly clogged by plastic bags, can cause a severe increase in cases of cholera and malaria due the still waters, ideal for choleric bacteria breeding and mosquito reproduction.
Many Namibians have begun adopting the use of reusable shopping bags and most grocers stock them at the cashier but the availability and convenience of plastic bags remain.
