Government has been called to reignite enforcement of the production and use of plastic in order to protect the dying environment and natural resources.
Ahead of the celebrations to mark this year’s World Environment Day, the government is being urged to wake up and take notice of the war that is being lost to plastic.
“We are calling on the people to go and speak to their leaders in government to effect the ban on plastics,” said Ivan Amanigaruhanga, the ED Uganda Biodiversity Trust Fund (UBF).
“The Government on Monday, should you come up with a serious statement on plastic use in the country. We would also want to see NEMA regulate production and use of plastics by effecting standards in collaboration with UNBS,” he said.
Amanigaruhanga was speaking to the press during a plastic cleaning exercise in Balintuma Zone, Kiwatule as part of the activities leading up to Monday’s celebrations at the Kololo Independence Grounds.
Ahead of the #WorldEnvironmentDay2023 , @ubf_info and @nemaug carried out a cleaning exercise in Balintuma zone, Kiwatule, with a call to the public and government to work toward ending production and use of plastic in Uganda.@PrimeNewsUg pic.twitter.com/tmxkoeyMCf
— Sam Waswa🇺🇬 (@SamsonWaswa2) June 3, 2023
President Yoweri Museveni is expected as chief guest at the event which is themed; “Stop Plastic Pollution Now.”
UBF, according to the ED, is set to start implementing a project that will support food and beverage factories to migrate to production of biodegradable containers which are safer to the environment.
The $100,000 pilot project, he said, will start with two factories in July, and is hoped to be scaled up.
Francis Ogwal, Senior Manager Environmental Planning and Coordination at NEMA also emphasized the need to end plastic use in Uganda when there is still time.
“Plastics are bringing to us more problems than the solutions we think they have brought. Billions of shillings is needed to remove what is being deposited in our environment,” he said.
“Soft drinks like sodas are now in plastic bottles. They were all in glass bottles and this transition is a recent one. If we went back to bottles for those drinks what would happen to us? We should move away from what we think is convenient back to what used to be much more sustainable from the environment point of view,” he said.