BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – WITH the Federation pushing for a green economy, the Government wants private sector entities to follow suit and use more cloth and papers bags in the absence of laws prohibiting the importation of plastic and Styrofoam containers.
That announcement was made yesterday (Feb. 24) by Deputy Prime Minister the Hon. Shawn Richards when asked by SKNVibes what was the Government’s position on the importation of plastic bags and Styrofoam containers.
“Minister Liburd, who is the Minister with Responsibility for Public Works, and Minister Grant as the Minister of Tourism, perhaps they may choose to make such a submission for the Cabinet to consider,” Richards said.
Asked if discussions were had by Cabinet to follow in the footsteps of neighbouring Antigua to ban the importation of plastic and Styrofoam, the Minister responded in the negative but indicated that he would like to see the country take up the responsibility and manage the use of plastics and other non-biodegradable items.
He explained that supermarkets and food chains that import and distribute those containers on a regular basis should be more cognisant of their effects on the environment, since there are cases of indiscriminate dumping of waste around the island.
To this end, he wants them to begin using brown paper bags and paper containers when serving the public.
“However, in the absence of Cabinet making such decision, I do believe that as consumers here in St. Kitts and Nevis, we must begin to insist upon certain things. We, for example, can say to the different companies from which we purchase different items that we would want to see them going green...and using paper bags and not black plastic bags and Styrofoam containers.”
The Minister commended the management of the St. Kitts Bottling Company for the initiative of recycling plastic bottles in the Federation, while appealing to the public to do the same.
“I want to encourage all persons here that when you are using different types of materials, you can find alternative ways to put them to use rather than having to dump them.”
