By FARRAH JOHNSON

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party Deputy Leader Chester Cooper said while he supports the single-use plastics ban, he believes the government should have implemented a longer transition period to ensure the public was properly educated on the importance of the prohibition.

Speaking to reporters during the PLP’s walkabout on East Street, Mr Cooper said the party supports “any initiative that’s positive for the environment.”

Still, he insisted that the government could have done a “better job” in implementing the ban.

“Certainly plastics and styrofoam have caused a lot of issues in our waters and the general environment of our country. We are a country reliant on the water and marine resources and therefore we must do all we can to protect what God has given us.”

“I thought there ought to be a broader timeframe for educating the public to explain to the public why it’s good for the country, why it’s good for the environment, why it’s good for our health and allow there to be a proper transition period.”

Mr Cooper also said he was “concerned” about a resident he knew in the plastic business who had a “significant inventory” they wanted to deplete before the ban was enforced.

He said this was one of the reasons he told the government the transition period was too short in the House of Assembly.

Sharing his thoughts on the 25 cents to a dollar charge on plastic bags, Mr Cooper added: “I think the intent was sound in relation to discouraging the use of plastics (but) had there been a longer transition period, people would have been allowed to use up their stock. This is what my recommendation was to the government.”

“Sometimes we get carried away with the politics of it and in Opposition we recognise that our role is to help to build a country, not always to oppose for opposing sake,” he said.

“So we are dismayed that the government has done such a poor job at the implementation (and) at the public education on the issue, but (in the) longer term we expect positives to accrue as a result of the ban on plastics.”

Mr Cooper also said while the public outcry in regards to the plastic ban was “regrettable,” his party believed the ban is in the country’s best interest.

“I want to be very clear (in saying) that we believe that it is a step in the right direction and the protection of the environment, the protection of our marine resources and the protection of our country. Therefore, on that basis we stand behind it as we did in parliament.”