KOTA KINABALU: A by-law to address plastic usage in Sabah might be enacted with the city adopting the plastic bag reduction campaign beginning Aug 1.
Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister, Datuk Abidin Madingkir said with the campaign starting off on a voluntary basis among retailers and vendors, the enforcement of certain by-laws that would strengthen this campaign should be considered.
“Although this campaign might be seen as "toothless" due to a lack of penalties, I do hope for public cooperation,” he said during a press conference at the City Hall (DBKK) headquarters here, Thursday (Aug 1).
He said the by-law to address plastic usage was to among others reduce waste in the city.
Abidin said the initiative was currently implemented in supermarkets, hypermarkets and markets in Kota Kinabalu, Inanam, and Manggatal.
He reminded the public to try and bring their own shopping bags and said that the use of biodegradable plastic bags that were available on the market was still being allowed.
At present, the DBKK only has an anti-litter by-law that imposes a maximum fine of RM500 on litterbugs, which was often hard to enforce due to monetary constraints among offenders, he said.
This is another avenue the local authorities need to really look into and find a solution to, said Abidin, who is in charge of the DBKK, adding that such enforcements are efficient in Singapore, for example, where people are deterred by heavy fines.
“In Sabah, when our officials try to penalise litterbugs, for example, those living on islands, they often can’t pay up because their wallets are empty,” he stressed.
Speaking of DBKK’s no-plastic-bags campaign from September last year to June this year, he said there was a 30% reduction, or 11,000 tonnes, in numerous types of plastic waste.
A centre for collecting recyclable plastics was also established while ongoing public awareness programmes for adults and children are being carried out, said Abidin.
He said better waste management and reducing the use of plastics could not only attract more tourists but also benefit local handicraft communities that use rattan and other natural resources to make baskets and other goods.
