Lahore: On Thursday, the Punjab government told the Lahore High Court that it is not going to put an immediate ban on the manufacture, sale and use of polythene bags, and that it will only be done in phases – a news source reported.
Chief Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar told a full bench of the court that the government is considering the effects of abrupt ban enforcement by other provinces. The government, he contended, is mindful of the problems that the people working in the polythene bag industry may face in case of an immediate ban.
Additional Attorney General Ishtiaq A. Khan and Advocate General of Punjab Ahmad Jamal Sukhera were also present at the hearing. Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi chaired the full bench of the High Court, and was accompanied by Justice Chaudhry Masood Jahangir and Justice Jawad Hassan.
Chief Secretary Khokhar also placed the draft law on the ban of polythene bags before the court. He told the court that polythene bags of minimum thickness of 50 macrons will only be allowed. He added that the production of the minimum standard will be banned six months after the law is passed. Their sale will be outlawed six months after that, and another six months later their import will also be terminated.
