The minister of Water and Environment, Sam Cheptoris has blamed MPs for failing government efforts to ban the usage of environmentally-degrading polythene (kaveera) in Uganda.
While addressing the media at the Uganda Media Centre to commemorate 'Earth Hour', Cheptoris said everyone in the world is reminded of their role to protect and conserve nature and the environment and kaveera remains one of the major dangers to mother nature.
Cheptoris said: "A couple of years ago, as a ministry, we had decided to ban polythene bags completely. But when our stand reached parliament, they decided that only polythene bags below 30 microns should be banned, scampering all our efforts, to rid this country of the looming danger from them."
But even after parliament approved an immediate ban on the usage of polythene below 30 microns in terms of size back in 2018, implementation has been non-existent. Uganda still has all sorts of polythene in all corners of the country.
Cheptoris said he's disappointed because so much polythene has gone into our soils, swamps and water sources, which is a big danger to the future of this country. Fish stock in the lakes is reducing because of plastics and soils are not producing much quality food as a result.
Cheptoris called upon his colleagues in parliament to consider the significance of their actions on Uganda. Cheptoris argued that a safe environment was important for the future generation and for the overall productivity of the people in this country.
The Archbishop of Church of Uganda, Stephen Kaziimba said that as the church they have taken a stand, to plant trees at every church event.
For example, during confirmation ceremonies, every confirmed child is expected to plant a tree. Cheptoris revealed that government intends to plant 40 million trees this year.
David Duli World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) country director warned that the destruction the earth is facing is a serious matter, because only 9 per cent of plastic waste around the world is recycled.
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