The government is down on its knees. Well not really it isn’t. It’s just a metaphorical way of seeing the government’s whole-hearted appeal to shopkeepers to collaborate in the implementation of the eco-contribution on plastic carrier bags.
The Independent had investigated the situation in Valletta on Monday and found that Valletta hawkers were prepared to absorb the €0.15 contribution. Another article in the Malta Independent yesterday found that shopkeepers were preferring handle-less plastic bags because these were not included in the eco-contribution scheme. Rather than forcing customers to pay an extra €0.15 and give them a fiscal receipt for the trouble, shopkeepers chose to circumvent the tax by handing out free plastic bags without handles.
So the Times reported that the government (note that when something is not working it is not the Minister but the anonymous Ministry that speaks) is appealing for people to pull the same (presumably eco-friendly hemp) rope. The VAT department even went so far as to say that there are sanctions for those breaching the law – which in the case of people giving out handle-less bags is tantamount to telling someone who is peacefully walking on the Sliema front that there are sanctions for the possession of illegal drugs.
Of course we all want to find ways not to harm the environment and this incidence only proves that a better education campaign needs to be put in place to prop up these sanctions. Educating the people about the environment through punishment or fiscal sanctions can be counterproductive. The measure is in the people’s interest. Less fiscality and more common sense might help.
And as a footnote… don’t you find it pathetic when the Times refers to the Independent as “a newspaper” as though we have three million papers nowadays? It’s not only blogs that suffer from the egoistic syndrome I guess.
