Eco-friendly binbags for Bahrain

A TENDER for biodegradable rubbish bags will be issued in the coming days, following months of alleged shortage.

The GDN reported in February that Bahrain’s four municipalities have run out of garbage bags, with councillors blaming the shortage on a lack of available cash, however, officials have denied the accusations.

Bahrainis are entitled to a packet containing 30 free, sealable rubbish bags from bodies responsible for municipal affairs in their neighbourhoods.

“The supplies we have at the moment are enough to meet demand until new stocks arrive through a unified tender for bin bags under new criteria and specifications that we have asked for,” said Southern Municipality director general Assem Abdullatif, who is also Muharraq Municipality acting director general.

“We are committed to rules and regulations as instructed by the Supreme Council for the Environment (SCE) in regard to eco-friendly biodegradable bin bags.

“It is a free service that we give to the public and aim to provide it without disruptions and in the best way possible.

“We always listen to public feedback regarding the bags’ accessibility and availability and the new supplies will cost the government more, but are in line with the ideas presented to us.”

The Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry in April installed vending machines in four malls in the Southern Governorate as part of the Easy system.

People registered to receive the bin bags need only to enter their CPR number and the Electricity and Water Authority account number to receive a packet containing 30 bags.

The automatic dispensers are located at Enma Mall, Al Muntazah Supermarket in Isa Town and Ramez Hypermarkets in Riffa and Askar.

It means citizens living in the Southern Governorate will no longer have to queue up at the municipality for garbage bags under the new initiative set for enrolment nationwide.

“We have enough bin bags at the moment available at municipalities and more stock will be provided in vending machines that will be installed across the country,” said Northern Municipality director general Lamya Al Fadhala.

“There are no shortages and people are receiving the bags.

“At the moment we are operating separately on a governorate basis and this is why the vending machines are programmed accordingly, but in future we may take up the suggestion of allowing people to take their bags from anywhere.

“The new tender will be issued in the next few days as we shift to eco-friendly biodegradable bin bags, which was taken into account months ago and even before the SCE regulation.”

However, Muharraq Municipal Council chairman Ghazi Al Murbati accused the ministry of covering up the shortage of bags by working on the introduction of biodegradable ones.

“Bags have been out of stock since January but municipal officials didn’t do anything about it,” he claimed.

A ban on single-use plastic bags is being rolled out in the country along with a ban on import of non-biodegradable plastic bags.

Later phases will witness a permanent ban on the use of plastic bags at certain malls and supermarkets.

Source: http://www.gdnonline.com/Details/569792