Shauna fails to answer bag bundle miss from tax exemption
Shauna couldn't answer the question directly. She said she did not believe that it was a political issue that could be solved without collective efforts.
By
Mariyam Umna Ismail
Environment minister Aiminath Shauna has failed to explain why her ministry did not object to the decision of the parliamentary committee that reviewed the now passed and ratified Waste Management Act to not waive the tax on plastic bag bundles.
The Waste Management Bill, which was passed by parliament in November, became a law, with a tax of MVR 2 per plastic bag coming into effect last week. With this change, there is now a tax on bags, both while buying bags itself and during shopping. With this, people are worried about the multi-fold increase in the prices of bags sold at wholesale shops.
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The ministry has since submitted an amendment to the parliament to exempt the tax on bundles that contain more than 50 bags; the amendment was sent after the bill was ratified
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On Wednesday, the ministry issued a statement indicating that the decision not to grant the exception was taken because parliament wanted it
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However, after the committee decided not to grant the exemption to bag bundles, it was sent to the ministry for comments before passing the bill; at the time, the ministry did not comment on it
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Speaker Mohamed Nasheed as well as Hoarafushi MP Ahmed Saleem, who chaired the committee that reviewed the bill, also noted that many members of the government did not support the exemption to bundles
When Shauna was summoned to the parliament on Tuesday, several MPs asked her about the issue.
Replying to a question from Kulhudhuffushi North MP Yaasir Abdul Latheef, the minister said that the government has proposed to waive tax on bag bundles containing 50 or more bags and tax on staple food bags. The speaker interrupted the minister at that point and asked if only the parliament had decided not give the exception.
Reacting to Nasheed's remarks, Shauna said that neither the committee's meeting minutes nor its report contained any reason behind the decision to impose a tax on bag bundles.
As Shauna said, the committee's report did not mention the reasons for not granting the exemption. However, in Monday’s sitting, the speaker shared with the members the reasons for the committee's decision to drop the exemption and send it to the ministry. These are the reasons that Nasheed mentioned at Monday’s sitting:
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Instead of reducing the use of plastic bags even a little bit, there will be an increase in the number of bag buyers and more plastic bags in the community
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The committee did not believe that traders would try to shift from plastic bags to an environmentally friendly alternative if the exemption was made
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As a result, the availability of plastic bags from traders' shops will not be reduced in the slightest and the responsibility of traders in reducing the number of bags would be cut down altogether
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Creating a black market for plastic bags
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In the end, the fee charged from bags is only levied on consumers who buy individual bags
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Charging the same fee from the buyers of bag bundles and individual buyers is not fair
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Exemption of tax on bags will be a violation of plastic reduction policy and would be going against the purpose of the entire law.
Shauna was then asked about it by Central Henveiru MP Ali Azim. Azim asked the minister:
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Was the president not even aware of the provisions of the bill when it was ratified
Shauna could not answer the question directly. She said she did not believe that it was a political issue that could be solved without collective efforts.
After saying otherwise, Nasheed again hit back at Shauna.
"The minister's comment said that parliament dropped the clause. What parliament is saying that there was no comment on why the article has been dropped. The matter has reached the highest point now," he said, giving Shauna the chance to speak.
But this time too, Shauna did not answer the question. Instead, she reiterated the reason why the government had recently sent the amendments.
"I would like to reiterate that the amendment that I have submitted to the honourable Members of parliament is linked to the livelihood of the people. When a person in HA. Filladhoo buys a kilo of sugar at MVR 4 per kg from their corner grocery shop, he has to pay an additional MVR 6 for the bag that contains the sugar. This is a big problem. We want this to be resolved," she said.
As per the existing law, every bag in a bag bundle is taxed at the same rate of MVR 2 per bag. A bag bundle, which usually contain 100 bags, will have an additional MVR 200 added to the price.
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