The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), on Thursday, passed the Polythene Materials Control legislation amid calls on EAC partner states to emulate Rwanda on the implementation of the policy.The bill seeks to provide a legal framework for the preservation of a clean and healthy environment through the prohibition of manufacturing, sale, importation and use of polythene materials. Rwanda’s EALA member Patricia Hajabakiga, who moved the motion for the anti-polythene law, said that it is intended to control the use of polythenes in the region and advocated for a total ban on plastics. “We applaud Rwanda that has excellently managed to get rid of these dangerous materials. If one of the partner states can succeed, why not all of us?” wondered Emerence Bucumi, an EALA member from Burundi.“We must protect the environment and share common interests in our desire to ensure a healthy environment”. While justifying her motion, Hajabakiga informed the House that while plastics can be burned, they emit chemicals and the corresponding photo-degradation has consequential impact on humans and infrastructure. Countries such as Bangladesh, Botswana, Israel, Rwanda and France have since enacted similar laws, Hajabakiga said.Kenya’s EAC Affairs Minister, Peter Munya, said that polythene waste is a major hindrance in urban and rural areas and attempts to ensure solid waste management, thus essential and welcome. He said that the envisaged law, in the Council’s view, shall control pollution and save flora and fauna. “Attempts to ban the plastics in the region have not been entirely successful in the Partner States, save for Rwanda, and it is now time to collectively act,” Munya added. Safina Kwekwe, the Chairperson of the Agriculture, Tourism and Natural Resources Committee, told the assembly that her committee met various stakeholders in the partner states during the public hearings about the bill. Stakeholders during public hearings, however, raised counter arguments including loss of income, jobs and reduced revenue affecting the economies.
