(St Kitts and Nevis Information Service Press Release): The Ministry of Environment and Climate Action continues to increase public knowledge and shape community perceptions on the dangers of plastic pollution through its ongoing education campaign drive to ban single-use plastics.
Minister of Environment and Climate Action, the Honourable Dr. Joyelle Clarke updated the country during the June 12 Sitting of Parliament on some of the initiatives undertaken by the ministry to bring St. Kitts and Nevis closer to banning single-use plastics. One such initiative is “No Plastic Shopping Bag Mondays,” which discourages the use of single-use plastics as shopping bags and encourages the use of reusable bags in St. Kitts and Nevis.
“Every Monday in June is no plastic bag day in our supermarkets. I want to take this opportunity to thank our partnering businesses including Ram’s, Kumar, Best Buy and Valu Mart who have stuck with us in terms of not providing plastic bags to customers when they go to the supermarkets,” said Dr. Clarke. “We are encouraging you to take your reusable bags or purchase bags at the supermarket for ‘No Plastic Shopping Bag Mondays.’
Equally important, Dr. Clarke said that the Department of Constituency Empowerment has also embarked on a community-wide initiative with inter-ministerial partnership.
“Currently, we are pursuing a coordinated approach to community engagement with the Ministry of Social Development, Community and Gender Affairs. The community empowerment engagement session continues to reveal the need for cleanliness, and a community clean-up campaign which will be done in partnership with the Ministry of Environment as it continues its month-long promotion of a cleaner environment and solutions to plastic pollution,” said Minister Clarke.
Dr. Clarke said that “Cabinet has approved the commencement of the ban on single-use plastics, however, with continued stakeholder consultations, the Ministry of Environment will confirm” when the ban on single-use plastics will begin, taking into consideration the “input from stakeholders and the general public.”