Term extension unwarranted on 50 retweets, says Nasheed

Speaker Mohamed Nasheed said on Thursday that there is no need to extend the term of the parliament because 50 people have retweeted a tweet urging the authorities to resolve the issue of mounting fees on polythene bags, following the implementation of the new waste management law.

The Waste Management Bill, which was passed by parliament in November, became a law and the state has started levying taxes of MVR 2 on every plastic bag from Tuesday last week.

With this change, there is now a tax on polythene bags, both in buying bags and for the bags involved during shopping. With this, the price of bags sold by wholesale shops has gone up manifold and people are worried about the increase in the cost of dumping waste. 

In March, the government had proposed amendments to the law to address the issue. However, with parliament going into recess on Thursday, it is unlikely that the issue of bag tax will be resolved soon. Nasheed did not want to do so despite some lawmakers' requests to extend the session.

Nasheed has said that he does not want to expedite the passage of the amendment.

"No MP should think that I will hurry up along to do the government’s bidding. That's not how it works," said Nasheed, who is also the president of the main ruling party.

Pointing out that the bills currently being debated, including the amendment on bag bundles, have been debated for a long time, Nasheed said he hoped that the preliminary debate on these bills will be concluded and sent to the committee on Thursday. He predicted that by the time parliament meets for the second term after a two-week recess, the committee proceedings on these bills will be completed and passed by the parliament.

"Some people are saying that when they saw a tweet with retweets of 50 people, the people of the country were very worried, so we have to hold meetings here and take a decision on it," he said.

Nasheed feels that people are worried about the environmental damage caused by the plastic more than the new fee. We do not want the amendment sent by the government to be passed in haste, he said.

"In reality, we have seen that the people of the country are concerned because of the damage to the reefs, the damage to the environment, which is causing damage to health. Scientists are saying that this is because of the plastic bags," Nasheed said.

"But in my view, it's not the kind of decision that needs to be taken quickly. That's the kind of thing we need to think about thoroughly. Therefore, the matter can be referred to the committee today."