Letter To Mol Zulkhair

Zulkhair Abdullah B. Science Education Student of PS3403 Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education Universiti Brunei Darussalam Email: [email protected] Phone: +673-8654355 The Director Ministry Of Laws Prime Ministry Office Old Airport Complex Bander Seri Begawan BB3510 The Director Ministry Of Laws Prime Ministry Office Istana Nurul Iman Bandar Seri Begawan BA1000

1st October 2006

Re: Imposing Fines on improper disposal of Plastic Bags I am writing on behalf of my group concerning the overuse of plastic bags in Brunei. We are undergraduates studying at one of the higher institutes of education here. As part of our course we have been researching on the usage of plastic bags in our country. It is a major community concern from our view that there is an obvious overuse. In a quick survey that we have conducted with 59 people in Brunei, a person obtains at least 5-6 plastic bags per week. If we extrapolate this for the whole population of Brunei, we use 1780000 plastic bags for only just one week and approximately 640800 are thrown away and 90500 are being burned. This gives a picture of how much litter and pollutions being produced with plastic bags every week. From our survey respondents agreed that plastic bags are overused and are the main source of litter in Brunei. We would like to implore Bruneians to reduce the usage of plastic bags in this country. On doing so, we would like Prime Ministry’s Office to impose and put into effect the laws of fining on improper disposal of plastic bags. This is to make the people aware of the cause and effect of littering and the improper disposal of it. A charge has been imposed on plastic bags in South Africa, which have assumed a new identity as the

‘national flower’ as a result of many getting caught up in trees and fences. Causing negative effects impacts on the environment and depleted natural and environmental resources. A clear sore sight could be seen in the Water Village area.

Yours sincerely, ___________________ (Zulkhair Abdullah)