The capital should see much less plastic by next year, as retailers pledge they will provide enviromentally-friendly bags.
On Thursday the Jakarta branch of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin Jakarta) signed an MoU with the Jakarta administration to gradually reduce the use of plastic bags by 2011.
The commitment involves city-owned traditional market operator PD Pasar Jaya and the Indonesian Retail Merchants Association (Aprindo), both of which are the members of Kadin.
Kadin Jakarta Chairman Eddy Kuntadi said the program was still at the campaigning stage, therefore Kadin Jakarta asked for commitment from members that utilized large amounts of plastic bags.
“Some members of Aprindo have started to provide environmentally friendly bags so they have an alternative solution and are not limited to asking people to stop using plastic bags,” he said, after signing an MoU on the commitment on Thursday.
The program, he said, was not supported by Jakarta municipality regulations.
Aprindo operational head Tutum Rahanta said the businesses expected the government to give incentives to companies that had ceased using plastic bags or to those that produced environmentally-friendly bags.
“This kind of program cannot be implemented by unilaterally.
“It must be put into action by the consumers, the businessmen and the government in parallel,” he said.
As businessmen, he said, they could only give customers the choice of using free plastic bags or buying reusable bags.
A reusable bag usually costs up to Rp 10,000 (US$1), making it more expensive than regular plastic bags.
“Consumers can also bring their own bags. It depends on them,” he said, adding that some large retailers had already implemented such campaigns in their stores in the last five years.
Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said plastic was one of the main causes of pollution, and that working with Kadin to reduce the use of plastic among retailers was a strategic move.
He said such a move could not be fully implemented at once, therefore they agreed to start with large retailers in the beginning.
“We expect them to stop providing plastic bags and instead encourage the customers to bring their own bags to shop,” Fauzi said.
“Or if they still want to provide bags, we encourage them to use environmentally friendly bags or biodegradable plastic bags,” he said.
In the next step of the agreement, Fauzi said the city would cooperate with Kadin Jakarta to raise public awareness on reducing the use of plastic bags.
The executive director of the Jakarta-based Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), Ubaidillah, praised the retailers’ efforts.
“It is good to educate people but it will be useless if the production of plastic bags remains unregulated,” he said.
He added the discourse on reducing plastic bags by 2011 was not enough without strictly regulating the issue.
“The government could issue limitations on the amount of plastic bags produced, reduce imports of plastic materials and follow through with strict punishment for violators,” he said.
| 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|