The Mataram City Government Implements The Prohibition Of One-Use Plastic Bags, The First Phase Of Modern Retail Sasar

Illustration: officers from the Mataram City PUPR Service handle plastic waste in one section of the Mataram City channel, West Nusa Tenggara/VIA ANTARA Province

MATARAM - The Government of Mataram City, West Nusa Tenggara Province, will implement a ban on the use of single-use plastic bags or plastic bags to reduce the pile of plastic waste that is difficult to recycle. Head of the Mataram City Environment Agency (DLH) HM Kemal Islam said, to implement the ban on the use of disposable plastic bags, a legal umbrella is currently being prepared as a reference for implementation. "The regulation of the mayor (perwal) regarding restrictions on the use of single-use plastic is in the discussion stage. We are targeting that next month it will be implemented," he said in Mataram, quoted from Antara, Monday, February 20. He said, for the first stage, the realization of the regulation would massively target modern retailers in Mataram City. "Meanwhile, use in traditional markets will be carried out in stages," he said. According to him, in the regulation there will also be sanctions given to those who violate the provisions and will be carried out by Civil Servant Investigators (PPNS) in the Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP). This means that if there are indications of violations of the regulation, the PPNS team will go down to investigate indications of violations of the regulation. "The sanctions that will be given may be in the form of fines, but we are still regulating the amount," he said. Kemal further said that this policy was implemented because one of the rivers in Mataram City had been polluted by microplastics. This is due to the high production of plastic waste that ends in the river. "The construction of this regulation is an effort to maintain environmental conditions, one of which is the river so as not to be polluted by microplastic waste," he said.