Mansa Municipal Council is set to embark on a routine inspection exercise in the district to ensure maximum compliance on the ban of plastic use by all.
This is in line with the directive made by the Ministry of Water Development, Sanitation and Environmental Protection on the ban of use of plastic bags on 3rd December, 2018, the
Mansa Municipal Council Assistant Public Relations Manager Gladys Saili said this comes after the recent pronouncement made by the Zambia Environment Management Agency (ZEMA) giving an ultimatum to all persons and/or facilities.
Ms Saili said facilities or persons supplying plastic carrier bags and plastic flat bags that are less than 30 microns in thickness to consumers to stop by 14th February, 2019.
she said the Local authority is therefore urging all involved to comply with the directive as failure to do so is an offence and attracts a fine not exceeding three hundred thousand penalty Units, equivalent to Ninety thousand or to an imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years or to both.
Ms Saili said consumers are advised to also comply and ensure they use alternative shopping bags that are environmentally friendly and help to keep Mansa clean and healthy for all.
she said the ban is in accordance with section 58 of the Environmental Management Act No 12 of 2011 and the signing into law of the Environmental Management Regulations Statutory Instrument (SI) No 65 of 2018.
Meanwhile the local authority has appealed to all residents undertaking any building development in the district to halt and obtain building consent from the council as it is unauthorized to develop on state land without the stated planning permission granted by the Council.
This provision is enshrined under part VI of the Urban and Regional Planning Act, 2015 which states that ‘a person shall not carry out any development on land, change the use of land or subdivide any land without planning permission’.
Developers who have already obtained the planning permits are also advised to submit all relevant documents to the council for verification and further comply with the officers that are on the ground carrying out inspections.
