The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Lagos State Chapter, has appealed to the state government to suspend its planned ban on single-use plastics and carry stakeholders along to discuss alternatives.
The state Chairman of NLC, Mrs Funmi Sessi, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos.
NAN reports that the state government recently announced plans to ban single-use plastics and sachet water by January 2025.
The government had said the policy was aimed to establish sustainable guidelines for managing plastic waste while protecting public health and the environment.
Sessi said: “There are implications for this government decision, that is why government should carry along stakeholders.
“Number one implication it is going to have on the people is that, by the time government lays a ban on this, many job losses will happen.
“That is why I am appealing to government to have a rethink because at this particular time, those who are working in all these companies producing single-use bags, nylons, sachet water, you want to throw them into the unemployment market again.
“I use this medium to appeal to our ever-listening government to suspend that action because there have been much of hunger and anger in the land.”
Sessi also expressed dissatisfaction at further increase in the price of petrol, saying that it caused more hardship on the citizens.
“Our refineries should work,“ she said.
