HYDERABAD, May 30: Adviser to the Sindh Chief Minister on Environment and Alternate Energy Noman Saigol on Tuesday gave one month to retailers and manufacturers of plastic bags to produce bags which met the required safety specifications.

He said that factories of violators would be sealed by the environment department under the relevant ordinance promulgated by the Sindh governor.

He was speaking at a meeting with a delegation of the Hyderabad Plastic Bag Association here on Tuesday.

The delegation comprised Yusuf Dada, president of the association and vice-president Alam Mukhtiar.

“It is better that you should adhere to the ordinance or face action. We do not want to put you in trouble and it can be gauged from the fact that the district nazim initially called complete ban on manufacturing of polythene bags but later on he showed leniency so it its upto you to manufacture bags, allowed in the ordinance”, he said.

Association’s office-bearers said that in fact the ban was being implemented only in Hyderabad district and plastic bags were being brought from the capital city of Sindh and Punjab to Hyderabad without any check.

They said that awareness among general public was also necessary and he believed that even after manufacturing of plastic bags with 30 microns, the problem would remain unresolved.

The adviser spoke to the director-general of the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency Iqbal Saeed, who told him that Punjab’s environment secretary had also called for copy of the ordinance.

The adviser said that 11 plastic manufacturing factories had been sealed in Karachi and said that retailers and whole-sellers would not be spared if they did not cooperate with the government.

He said that letters had been written to district nazims and DCOs in the province to take action at district government level.

He asked EPA representative Kishanchand Magwano to hold a meeting with manufacturers and show them samples which were approved by

the EPA under “ban on sale and manufacturing of plastic bags”.