He noted that while some local councils have recorded significant achievements in rolling out such programmes, the pace of their progress largely depends on the level of development in their respective areas.
“You can’t expect what can be done in Kuala Lumpur to be done in another town in the country. The level of development is different, and that’s fair… But you need a minimum standard,” he said at a press conference here.
“You need to nudge local councils for them to move along (with such initiatives). You cannot have some local councils working fast while the rest are left behind.
“We are working together (with the state governments and local councils), and we also encourage the local councils to compete (with one another) so they can show what they are doing to overcome this problem.”
He said the overall aim is for the councils to help the government achieve its goal of phasing out single-use plastic.
He said the ministry was also concerned about informal sectors such as roadside stall vendors, adding that they must be provided with alternatives to single-use plastic.
In May, Nik Nazmi announced that the government was set to ban the retail use of plastic bags across all business sectors nationwide by 2025. He said that the ban would first take effect in supermarkets, mini markets, and sundry shops before being extended to roadside stalls.
He said the no-plastic campaign was part of the government’s long-term plan to tackle the issue of pollution due to single-use plastics, which he said was one of the major problems affecting the country’s environment.
Ramping up Ocean Cleanup initiative
Meanwhile, Nik Nazmi said the ministry was looking to expand its Ocean Cleanup initiative outside of the Klang Valley.
He said that currently, there were only two interceptors in the Klang river and the ministry was looking at the possibility of expanding the usage to other areas.
The interceptor is a solar-powered river cleaning machine which is the brainchild of Dutch-based non-profit organisation The Ocean Cleanup.
Dedicated to clearing plastic from the oceans of the world, there are currently two units of the cleaning machine located in Klang river – Interceptor 002 (2019) and Interceptor 005 (2021).
“We are going to ramp up the use of the interceptors as Penang and some other states have been asking for them,” Nik Nazmi said.
“We are looking at marine plastic litter collection (in oceans) as they (interceptors) are only in the Klang river now.”
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