Court sits on plastics crisis

 Malawi Environment Protection Authority (Mepa) is failing to enforce the plastics regulations enacted in 2015 due to a prolonged hold-up by the court to determine on an application to vacate a stay order almost a year and a half after the case was last heard.

The development, according to environmental activists, has given manufacturers an opportunity to mass-produce thin plastics leaving an undesirable impact on the country’s environment.

Mepa acting deputy director-general Michael Makonombera confirmed in an interview on Tuesday that the matter was still in court following the stay order of the ruling that banned thin plastics manufacturing in the country.

“Therefore, we are not supposed to do anything in terms of implementation of the ban. We referred the matter to the Ministry of Justice so we are just waiting from them to update us on how far they have gone,” said Makonombera who is also deputy director in the Department of Environmental Affairs.

Government imposed a ban on the use, sale, production, exportation and importation of plastic bags of less than 60 microns in 2015 but the move was overturned by the High Court after a number of plastic manufacturers obtained an injunction citing an “infringement of business rights”.

Then a series of court battles followed until May 2021 when the High Court (Commercial Division) in Lilongwe vacated an injunction obtained by Golden Plastics Limited, prohibiting enforcement of the plastics regulations and dismissed the judicial review challenging the legality of the plastics regulations by the company.

Thereafter, Mepa proceeded with inspections, enforcement actions and conducted training workshops for city and district councils to begin enforcement of the plastics regulations.

However, in July 2021, the company obtained a stay order at the Supreme Court preventing the enforcement of the High Court judgement until an appeal of that judgement was heard and concluded.

Mepa, through the Attorney General’s chambers, then applied to have the stay order vacated and hearing of the application, after several adjournments due to the unavailability of a judge, was finally heard in December 2021 by Justice Lovemore Chikopa.

However, the judge reserved his ruling but to date, the appeal has not been heard at the Supreme Court and the ruling on the application to vacate the stay order has not been delivered either.

In a written response, Chakaka-Nyirenda confirmed in an interview following up on the judgement and promised to revert for further details but had not done so by press time.

Journalist-cum-environmental activist Matthews Malata said in an interview on Wednesday that the delay by the court to determine the matter had serious implications on the enforcement of the plastics regulations.

He observed that the development has further worsened the thin plastic crisis as manufacturers have engaged in mass-production while plastic pollution continues affecting people and livestock welfare, among others.

While noting that the current situation threatens gains the country made on both the local and international scene, Malata has called for political intervention to push for the agenda.

“The plastics regulations (2015) should be revised urgently. It has very low penalties much as it gives Mepa powers to close down companies. It also has provisions that are somehow ambiguous and infuriating these endless court battles, hence companies taking advantage,” he said.

Another environmentalist Dorothy Tembo-Nhlema also observed that the delay has compromised the enforcement due to the absence of the plastic ban “which means all the gains we had are being eroded