Plans in place for January 1st 2019 ban of Styrofoam and plastic items says Skerrit

Garbage on King George V Street in Roseau

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has said that plans are in place to ban the use of Styrofoam and plastic items in the New Year.

In July, 2018 the Prime Minister announced that effective January 1st 2019, Styrofoam and certain plastic items will be banned in Dominica.

He said the move is part of the government’s vision of making Dominica the first climate resilient country in the world.

 “We are starting the banning of Styrofoam and plastic food utensils and in the next few months we will also articulate a second phase of the banning of certain non-biodegradable items in our country,” he said.

Skerrit continued, “But before we do that, we are seeking to provide to ensure that the biodegradable items are accessible to every citizen and therefore the taxes, the import duties on those items will be reduced drastically or taken down  to zero.”

Meantime, he urged citizens to respect the litter laws in Dominica.

“I want to say to citizens, the same practice we adopt when we go to the metropolitan countries where our garbage remain in our vehicles and in the privacy of our homes, that’s what we want in Dominica,” he stated. “We will be very stringent on those who fail to respect the litter laws in our country, because we all complain about the country’s this and the country’s that, but the question is who are  the ones who dump the litter, the garbage on the side of the roads or in the streets?”

According to Skerrit, “We are the ones who do it, so if we do not want it, the simple thing to do is to stop it and if we cannot stop it, then the law will cause us to stop it.”

He made it clear that the laws will even be strengthened to ensure that, “we respect nature and that we can preserve and conserve our environment.”

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12 Comments

  1. HA!
    November 8, 2018

    The same people keep posting on every news article. I’m sure they dream of Skerrit every night. I believe at this point they get the picture that the other party will never be the ruling party certainly not under their current leader.

  2. Roseau Girl
    November 8, 2018

    Does that include all the plastic bottled poisonous juiced all grocery shopping stores?

    We are importing too much plastic bottled juices to our country. And knowing the habits of our many litter bugs on island, these bottles end up in the sea and rivers. Total pollution.

  3. dee
    November 8, 2018

    What is very concerning is no apparent plan is being put in place for the disposal of all those imported second hand Japanese vehicles . Many of those will be parked at the road side or dumped in ravines, as their life span expires in 10 + years time .
    It would be interesting to see if Japan would buy them back for recycling or for scrapping
    I don’t think so somehow , so the problem will be ours .

    • Me
      November 9, 2018

      Why don’t u tell people to stup dumping there vehicles by the side of the road instead of asking another country to come and buy back your trash We all kno who the vehicles belong to. The gov should fine them by the day. Every day your vehicle park there fine them 100dollars. You will see how many derelict vehicles will be on the side road when that is starting to be done

  4. Tracy daniel
    November 8, 2018

    But does he actually kno that biodegradable plastics are not actually biodegradable if you don’t have a speacial kind of bacteria present in the land fills. And to add insult to injury the bacteria produces a considerable amount of methane. Which is a greenhouse gas So instead of banning stuff why not go down the recycling route All those plastics can be partially melted down to create rot resistant sign posts that can be used on our trails as marker posts . If they thought about it properly that’s a much better way than banning the plastics and then importing more so called biodegradable plastics that do not actually biodegrade

  5. Massacre
    November 7, 2018

    For 14 years now Skerro has making promises and plans to build things in Dominica. I would like him to tell me how many more years he wants continue to take us to his promise land?

  6. Bob Denis
    November 7, 2018

    The Eye sore created by Styrofoam and plastics, is not a laughing matter. Politics surely have no place in implementing and making it law. sometimes i wonder, what does it take to make one stop talking bout Nature and be Nature?.

  7. Self
    November 7, 2018

    Talk and more talk, palay palay palay sot.

  8. Paul
    November 7, 2018

    I think we should get rid of skerite instead

  9. BMB
    November 7, 2018

    To me, if we’re really serious, ALL carbonated soft-drinks should be sold in the reusable glass bottles like how they used to be.

  10. %
    November 7, 2018

    It’s better late than never.Your DLP is a terribly bad “”””cannot do”””CANCER, sucking the blood of the nation.Your terribly bad leadership is dirtier than the litter you want to get rid of …
    Roseau people in particular should reject your candidate in toto because before 2004 Roseau was not as dirty as it is has been during the last 18 years..
    Your double doctor of incompetence.
    Skerrit Must Go
    Skerrit Must Go
    LAZY Skerrit Must Go Now

  11. jamie
    November 7, 2018

    Skerrit this is just showing how your administration has failed the people,Laws should always be enforced,esp waste,and for the past 18 years Dominica has become overwhelmed with waste under your watch.

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