KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 — The Selangor state government will reassess its policy of charging consumers 20 sen for each single-use plastic bag following negative public and business feedback, said a state executive councillor.

Hee Loy Sian, who chairs the state committee on Environment, Green Technology, Consumer and Non-Islamic Affairs, said the state government will shift its focus from penalising consumers to educating them to reduce the use of plastic bags.

“We will review the charge of 20 sen as it was seen as being less effective, besides the numerous complaints from the public.

“Many supermarkets also do not comply as there was no enforcement, and there are consumers who were willing to pay RM1 to get five plastic bags,” he was quoted saying by local daily Utusan Malaysia.

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The Selangor government's “No Plastic Bag” campaign was implemented on January 1, 2017, with RM1.87 million reportedly collected from state consumers from January 2017 to May 2017 through the 20 sen charge.

The Selangor Barisan Nasional had previously said it would continue the policy of imposing the 20 sen charge for shoppers who request for plastic bags, but would introduce a reward of 20 sen for shoppers who brought their own bags, if it could regain Selangor.

However, Pakatan Harapan enjoyed a landslide victory in Selangor in the 14th general election, winning 51 of the 56 state seats, while BN and PAS each took four seats and one seat, respectively.

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