Last Updated on December 18, 2019, 11:47 PM AST by Anthony Morris
St Kitts and Nevis government is considering to impose ban on single-use plastics in the federation to make the environment clean.
The Environment department of St. Kitts and Nevis is under consideration on putting a ban on the use of single use plastics in the country.
During the Budget 2020 debate Minister responsible for the Environment, the Honourable Eugene Hamilton, told the National Assembly about the change in policy. He said that the international community members are continuing to lobby nations across the world to ban the use of single use plastics as they are creating danger to the environment all around.
Minister said that the most of the single-iuse plactics do not degrade by the time, but instead breakup into small pieces and ultimately end up in our food chain.
He added that any changes in St Kitts-Nevis policy will be done over time to ensure the sufficient adjustment period to the people. The period could be upto five years before the single-use plastics are phased out.
“This will allow local companies to retool and retrofit their companies to adapt to the ban,” Hamilton added.
The Ministry of Tourism in coordination with Sustainable Destination Council has also advocated the ban of single use plastics. In July 2018 and 2019, the ministry hosted Plastic Free July, which educated residents on the ways plastic pollution threatens marine life, the environment, personal health and the tourism product.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
