Magistrate
Bojang, sitting at the Brikama Magistrates’ Court, recently convicted and
sentenced one Sheikh Njie to a fine of D8,000 in default to serve 1 year 6
months in prison for using and selling banned plastic bags.
According
to the facts narrated by the NEA prosecutor, Momodou S.F. Bojang, it happened
on 18 July 2016 at the Brikama Market in the West Coast Region.
He
said the NEA inspectors who were inspecting in the market area received
information that the accused person, who was selling vegetables in his shop,
was using and selling plastic bags in his shop.
Upon
receiving the information, the team left for the shop of the accused person and
his place was identified, and they started monitoring him.
They
also received information that the accused person was having a store, and NEA
inspectors used means until they purchased some plastic bags from the accused
person.
He was later invited to the Brikama Police
Station and, upon investigation, the accused person told the police that he had
a client who supplied him with the plastic bags in The Gambia, but had
travelled to Senegal.
The
accused person later led the investigating team to his store, where he opened
the store and they found two bags of rice inside the store. They were opened in
the presence of the accused person, and a quantity of plastic bags was found.
He
was later charged with the offence committed.
In
his plea of mitigation, the accused begged the court to temper justice with
mercy because he is the breadwinner of his family.
In
delivering judgment, magistrate Bojang told the court that he considered the
offence the accused person committed as very serious.
Plastic
bags were banned by law in The Gambia in 2015, because plastic destroys the
soil and is harmful to natural resources, and kills animals and fish in the
ocean and the river.
He
said anything that was banned by the law should be avoided, and for anyone who
continues to use or sell plastic bags, the law would not have mercy on you.
He
consequently convicted and sentenced the accused person accordingly.
