Despite massive campaign and also crackdown on the law-breakers, the government has failed to ensure mandatory use of jute sacks for packaging food and agricultural produce under the existing jute-packaging law.
And polythene has reinforced its evil empire dodging a ban.
According to sources, poly-bags are being traded and used throughout the country for government's failure to promote jute bags as an environment-friendly substitute.
Despite repeated reminders from the ministry concerned, the government authorities failed to enforce the Mandatory Jute Packaging Act.
As such, State Minister for Textiles and Jute Mirza Azam sought intervention from the cabinet secretary to enhance use of jute bags instead of polythene or polypropylene bags for packaging goods like food items by enforcing the Mandatory Jute Packaging Act.
The minister, in writing, sought personal intervention of the cabinet secretary to enforce the law more strictly, especially through mobile-court drives, at district levels so that none could violate the rules.
"Although mobile courts are being conducted in some districts, these are not enough. In some cases they even fail to realize the penalty, which undermines the mission of the drives.
"Under these circumstances, I seek your personal intervention to make the district administrations more active and instrumental," said the state minister in his letter sent recently to the cabinet secretary.
The government enacted the 'Mandatory Jute Packaging Act' in October 2010, but it was not implemented due to the absence of the rules. The government enacted the packaging law to increase the use of environment-friendly jute goods instead of polythene or polypropylene bags.
The absence of rules hindered implementation of the guidelines enshrined in the Jute Policy for augmenting the use of environment-friendly jute products at home and abroad.
In June 2013, the government framed the rules detailing the use of jute bags and sacks for packaging the listed products.
The jute ministry published a gazette notification on enforcement of the Jute Packaging Act 2010. The execution of the act was to start last January.
To implement the law, the textiles and jute ministry initially planned to ensure the use of jute sacks by state agencies BADC, the Department of Food, Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation and Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation.
To promote the use of jute bags for packaging foodstuffs and agricultural produce, the ministry issued a circular in September 2013, making it mandatory for private rice-mill owners to use 100 percent jute bags for packaging under the Jute Packaging Law.
The circular also instructed the Ministry of Food (MOF) for 100 percent use of jute bags for packaging paddy, rice and wheat.
Fertiliser factories, the sugar and food corporation as well as private sugar mills were directed to use jute bags for 50 per cent of their products. But all this appears to have gone in vain.
After all, the sources said in a huff, these are proving "mere eyewash", with no sign that the government has any interest to enforce the much-trumpeted law.
In December, the home ministry incorporated the Mandatory Jute Packaging Act into the schedule of offences cognizable for the mobile courts.
According to the act, if any stakeholder violates the law, they will be jailed for up to one year or fined Tk 50,000--or both the penalties will be applicable considering the degree of non-compliance.
The government launched a mobile-court drive in August last across the country to enforce the mandatory 'jute packaging act' as part of the initiative to ensure use of jute bags for the packaging of different products. Initially, the drive was launched in Dhaka and its adjoining areas. Later, it was expanded across the country.
Earlier, the government had taken various campaign programmes, including advertisements in newspapers, putting up posters, billboards and banners at important places and broadcasting programmes on radio and television, to create awareness among people about the use jute bags.
According to experts, full enforcement of the packing law will create demand for 840 million jute bags a year for the packaging of selected agricultural and non-agricultural products.
By one estimate, 70 percent local raw jute will be used for the production of 840 million bags, said an expert.
Currently, Bangladesh exports around 2 million bales of raw jute a year, while produces 6-7 million bales of jute.
Local factories use 4 million bales to make yarn and jute goods, more than 80 percent of which are exported.
A total of 212 jute mills are currently operational in Bangladesh. Of them, 21 are run by government and the rest by private owners, said officials.
