Clear Off the Resistance

The dust raised by the banning of the non biodegradable plastic papers is gradually settling back. Contrary to what one would have expected as result, the phenomenon is back on its rail.

In other words, non biodegradable papers are fully back on sale with traders using them without any further fear. Piled fruits are parcelled in plastic papers are sold by roadside without any qualms. Customers buy them without posing any iota of question.

Many shops that had refrained from using non biodegradable papers have gone back to their abandoned stock. This state of affairs is quite disturbing especially as it is happening barely two months after the ban. Many questions come to mind. Are Cameroonians simply being recalcitrant to the law? Is the control weak? Or is it because there is a complete absence of a substitute to non biodegradable plastic papers? These questions are quite obvious to ask and the answers cannot be blowing in the wind.

In effect, the decision to ban non biodegradable papers seems to have taken many a Cameroonian by surprise. But government had no other option than to sign such a decision in the face of the devastating effects such papers have on the environment.

Considering that the ban could have taken into consideration the effects on the country's commercial activities, it was necessary to prepare the ground so well to ensure that traders and customers do not find their backs pushed to wall or have no fallback position. The bitter truth is that, the ban created no practical room for alternatives.

That notwithstanding, it is equally important to note that Cameroon's private sector, notably the business sector is not vibrant enough as to take advantage of such opportunities. One would have expected that actors in the industrial sector readjust as fast as possible to catch the early bird.

Rather we observe a situation where they want to completely exhaust their stock to reduce losses before embarking on the production of any other substitute. Maybe, they should have been clear in their plied and be bold enough to ask for compensation from government for what they may have sacrificed to embrace the new dispensation. That said, the big question is why should such a measure succeed in other countries and not in Cameroon?