Reports Leo Odera Omolo.

Reports emerging from the Northern Tanzanian City of Arushahas revealed how two senior government openly clashed last Friday as they debated whether Kenya should ban the use of polythene materials as is the case in the other East African Community partner states.

The bitter exchange involved the Permanent Secretary in the Kenyan Ministry of Industrialization Karanja Kibicho and his East African Community Kenyan colleague David Nalo.

It says each presented differing views during the public hearing on the EAC Polythene Material Control Bill 2011, which is currently being debated before the East African Legislative Assembly {EALA} in Arusha.

The Bill, which is the brainchild of Patricia Hajabakiga, an EALA member of parliament from Rwanda, seeks to provide a legal framework for the preservation of a clean and healthy environment by prohibiting the manufacture, sale and importation and use of polythene materials.

The Bill is at the final stage of collecting views at EALA parliament in Arusha. Dr Kibicho said although the Bill means well, it might lead to closure of many firms if it is passed, which might ruin the local economy.”My argument should not be considered to mean I support the use of polythene, but rather my role is to promote industrialization and a law that will stifle industrialization should be reviewed to ensure it does not kill what we already have” ,Kibicho said.

But Kenya’s PS to the EAC David Nalo said the manufacturing sector has needless fear since the Bill only seeks to regulate the use of polythene and not plastics.

“Out of the numerous meetings I have chaired, the position of the Kenya government is that the Bill was not found to be against the EAC Treaty or Kenya’s Constitution. The Bill is not about plastics, which most of the manufacturers in Kenya are involved in, but rather the menace caused by polythene on the environment,” PS Nalo said.

However, the Bill is vehemently opposed by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers{KAM} whose stand is against the enactment of the Bill is its current form, saying it will affect more than 5,000 people in employment and affect tax remittance to the tune of Kshs 1.5 billion per year.

“Businesses in Kenya stand to lose investment worth over Kshs 43 billion if a Bill seeking to ban use of polythene material in the EAC is passed,” said betty Maina the KAM’s CEO.

Ms Maina said the Bill should be reviewed to ensure production of polythene material is not banned. Instead, EALA legislators should focus the Bill on encouraging correct consumer behavior since recycled plastic has many uses, including construction of roads and making of bottle tops.

“The Bill does not propose economically viable alternatives to the use of polythene packaging. It is naive to ban a useful product on basis of pollution, rather than regulate consumer behavior and conduct as is in the case of advanced economies such a the UK,”Ms Maina said.

But the mover of the motion, EALA’s Rwanda member Hajabakiga argued that the Bill is about managing waste rather than production of polythene materials.

In Rwanda we have banned the use of plastics and the effects are clear for all to see. Our capital City, Kigali is today one of the cleanest cities in the region partly because of the banning of use of polythene,” Hajabakiga said.

EAC partner states have up to 15th this month to finalize proposals on the Bill.

Ends