July 13, 2009 19:47 PM

"No Plastic Bag" Campaign To Stay Despite Criticism

PENANG, July 13 (Bernama) -- Despite the criticism against the "No Plastic Bag Day" every Monday, the Penang government will go ahead with the idea in order to save the environment.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state government had no plan to abort the campaign which was launched last Monday.

"If there is a positive impact, we will even consider extending it," he said here Monday after receiving a memorandum from the Malaysian Plastic Manufacturers Association (MPMA), which calls on the state government to reconsider its decision of making Monday a "No Plastic Bag Day".

In the memorandum, MPMA president Lim Kok Boon is urging the state government to set up a working group comprising all the relevant stakeholders to implement programmes based on the concept of reduce, reuse and recycle (3Rs) instead.

"We propose that the state government replace the 'No Plastic Bag Day' campaign with a more comprehensive programme," he said.

Lim, however, said the state government, during a public forum on April 19, had discussed and considered the pros and cons before making the decision to reduce the use of plastic bags every Monday.

"We do not completely ban the use of plastic bags on Monday, we just want to reduce it to save the environment," he said.

Lim said Penang was the first state in the country to come out with the idea in a bid to become Malaysia's first "green" state.

-- BERNAMA

We provide (subscription-based) 
news coverage in our Newswire service.