Much has been said recently about the newly introduced eco contribution on plastic. Some people decided to make an early judgment and, rather than wait to see how the system will actually work, started making statements which were not necessarily true.

These included statements by certain members of parliament who overpriced the tax we will all be paying on every garbage bag we use. Now, however, I feel that the tax has more or less settled in and thus a fair judgment can be passed.

The problem with the way Minister George Pullicino introduced this tax is that he has given the consumer no viable alternative. Going to the supermarket for your weekly shopping has now become a total hassle because there is simply no alternative to the plastic bags for which we, the consumers, are being charged exorbitant prices. I’ve seen shops selling plastic bags for 10 cents a piece when the actual tax is six cents!

In the year 2005 I never thought the day would come when I would go shopping just like my dear great-grandmother used to, with gewlaq in hand. The new cloth bags being offered are way too small, the gewlaq is not exactly the handiest thing to carry around, while cardboard boxes aren’t exactly a handy-dandy carrying thing, are they? Especially when they are filled to the top with shopping items.

Minister Pullicino is right in saying that Malta needs to protect its environment. He is right in saying that unless we do something, Malta is heading towards the red zone. Introducing a tax and not giving us a proper alternative is, however, not the way to do things. After all, where in the last PN electoral programme did it say that we would be having the eco contribution introduced in order to safeguard the environment?

Angelo Micallef

Marsaxlokk