ISLAMABAD: Minister for Climate Change, Zartaj Gul informed the National Assembly that the government is currently working on a plan to prohibit single use plastic bags in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) by August 14.
Replying to a question of Ms. Naureen Farooq Ibrahim in the National Assembly on Thursday, the minister said that an SRO under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1997 is being drafted to give legal cover to the proposed action.
She said that the ministry has also taken steps to discourage excessive use of plastic in the government departments including ban imposed on one time use polythene bags and PET bottles in the Ministry of Climate Change.
She said that the ministry has distributed cotton bags amongst parliamentarians, media personnel and officials of Ministry of Climate Change as an alternative to plastic bags. She added 5,000 cotton bags have been procured for distribution amongst the employees of the federal government.
She added several such bags are being procured for distribution in Juma and ltwaar bazars and various markets free of cost while an awareness campaign on the hazards of single use plastics is being launched.
She said that Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) had conducted a detailed survey of Industrial Estate of Islamabad situated in sectors I-9, I-10 and Kahuta Triangle to identify and categorize the number and types of industries. She added a total of 185 industrial units were identified in I-9, I-10 and Kahuta Triangle.
