As Ghana joins the world to mark this year’s Environmental Day, the Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Ahmed Ibrahim, has called for deeper national discourse on whether or not to ban rubber and plastic bags to protect the environment.
Speaking at this year’s commemoration of World Environment Day at Takoradi Technical University (TTU), the Minister of Local Government said government last month alone paid over GH¢440million to Zoomlion Ghana Limited for recycling of waste
According to him, the government is prepared to implement whatever decision the public reaches on a possible ban on plastic and rubber bags, citing growing concerns over worsening plastic pollution on land and at sea.
“To ban or not to ban, you must give us that answer because politicians are always afraid of civil disobedience and civil unrest and democracy has opened the doors for everything.
“When development started, the first packaging was glass, then they said it cannot rot so they moved to paper. Later we said, because we care for the environment and that paper production was depleting the forest, we moved to plastics. Here we are, being engulfed with plastics. Should we ban it? After plastics where do we go?” he said.
Read Also:
