LOCAL environmentalists are of the view that Government is not doing enough to promote and raise environmental awareness in the island and has called for greater focus to be placed on the issue.

“Government needs to do more, they need to have some legislation. We need strong laws, we should not have people living in the gullies and throwing stuff in there to begin with. So what are we doing about that? Nothing. They (the people) become voting machines and they shouldn’t be there,” said D’Arcy Crooks, executive director at Protect the Environment Trust (PET).

Crooks was speaking with the Observer at the recently held MegaMart Wholesale Club Green Expo and launch of its drop-off centre for plastic bottles and aluminium tins in partnership with PET at the company’s Upper Waterloo Road branch in Kingston. The aim of the expo was to raise awareness about plastic pollution and to promote the use of the MegaMart Ecobag, a reusable shopping bag that the company launched in February as a part of their green initiative.

“We need for people to understand that plastic is a very harmful material, it is really having a negative impact on our environment and it is time for us to be aware,” said Crooks.

According to him, plastic is very bad for the ecosystem and causes a lot of pulmonary diseases when it is burned.

“It is estimated that it takes 700 years for it to break down and some people are even saying that it takes 10,000 years, but it never disappears, it is always there and what is happening now is that sea mammals are ingesting plastics and it estimated that over one million sea mammals are dying annually throughout the world from eating plastic bags,” he said.

Chief executive officer of the Jamaica Environment Trust, Dianna McCaulay, also expressed similar sentiments. However, she said individual citizens also have a role to play.

“The lack of proper waste handling in Jamaica is manifestly obvious and we all are responsible because each of us is responsible for picking up a plastic bag for something that really doesn’t need a plastic bag and for discarding it carelessly at the side of the road or in gullies,” she said. “Anytime a verge or a piece of land is bushed it is full of garbage that all of us are guilty of just throwing there carelessly.”

Further to that, McCaulay said, “Government is collecting an environment levy that was said is going to be used for plastic recycling project and for support for national parks, but not one dollar of it has ever been used for those purposes.”

With regards to legislation, she said the country could benefit from laws which require companies that use plastic packaging to have a system in place to take care of their disposal as well as laws to stop persons from burning plastic and other waste, which she said is quite evident in Kingston and has serious health implications for elderly and young people.

Government could also assist by helping companies in recycling either by taxation or by subsidy, McCaulay said.

“There needs to be enforcement in Jamaica. We don’t like to talk about enforcement, but there needs to be rewards for people who do the right things and sanctions for those who do the wrong things,” she maintained.

At the same time, Crooks also noted that Government was not the only one at fault and that corporate Jamaica should do more to raise and promote environmental awareness.

“I think it is a corporate responsibility that we need to do, not only supermarkets, but other businesses in Jamaica. This country belongs to us. We are all tenants, but I don’t see corporate Jamaica jumping on the bandwagon, except multinational companies,” he said. “They need to do more, not just take, take, but give back.”

Both endorsed the initiative by MegaMart — a step which they said was in the right direction and called on Jamaicans to make it their business to protect, conserve and improve the environment.

Meanwhile, shoppers who attended the expo also lauded the company for the initiative and were happy with the information that they received from PET and the National Environment and Planning Agency.

“It is a very good idea. Jamaica has too much plastic floating all over the place and into our gullies. We need to recycle our plastic and we all need to be more aware about the environment and how we can preserve it,” said Floyd Morris.

Proceeds from the sale of the Ecobags, which cost $42 each, will go towards the environmental project at St Patrick’s Primary School in Kingston.