Government's plastic bag levy is a regressive tax in disguise

To an ordinary citizen, the general principle behind legislation should be based on genuine local needs. Lawmakers, on the other hand, have a duty to thoroughly vet proposed laws for their citizens.

The basis of the alleged problem that warrants legislation should be checked and the objective of the legislation must be seen to be capable of addressing the problem.

Legislators should also satisfy themselves that it is not an alternative legislation in disguise, serving other purposes than what was intended.

Applying the above perception to the 50-cent tax on supermarket plastic carrier bags, our lawmakers have failed miserably, by voting for it ('50-cent plastic bag tax voted in', July 11).

The principles behind the Environmental Protection Department's plastic bag tax were: the problem of landfills rapidly filling up, an astonishingly high disposal rate on plastic shopping bags and its objective to reduce their indiscriminate use. But the debate in these columns has revealed that plastic shopping bags have never been significant contributors to our waste problem. Neither has the department been able to justify its alarmingly high disposal rate nor to clarify what was indiscriminate use.

The basis of the problem of our landfills rapidly filling up, as allegedly caused by the use of plastic shopping bags, is unsound. The innocent supermarket plastic carrier bags should not have been scapegoats for our waste problem.