N'DJAMENA, 24 November 2010 (IRIN) - N'djamena is a rarity in the region – the trees lining the Chad capital are not scarred by plastic bags. In supermarkets cashiers simply leave goods on the counter for the customer to take away, which many do in reusable bags on offer everywhere in the markets.

When Marie Thérèse Mbailemdana became mayor of N'djamena in January 2010, she was determined to apply a 1992 law prohibiting the importation of plastic bags (known by the Arabic word 'léda'); until then the law had not been strictly enforced.

"This plastic polluted the city – you saw plastic hanging on walls, on trees. And it destroys our environment. Plastic remains in the ground for centuries. No trees or plants will grow where plastic is in the ground," she told IRIN.

She began by meeting business leaders, school directors and other groups to talk about how to apply the ban. But in the beginning people were sceptical the law could be enforced, Mbailemdana said. Vendors everywhere used flimsy black plastic bags for everything from bread to sweets to a bar of soap.

"Everyone said it was impossible to prohibit the use of plastic bags here. They told me, 'Madame, you're dreaming. You can never do that in N'djamena!' I said, 'No - it's a question of will – we can do this'."

She asked teachers to educate their students and to have students tell their parents. During radio broadcasts, she said, she gave out her mobile-phone number.

"People who believed in this effort called me, telling me of people who were still using plastic bags clandestinely."

In N'djamena people found with plastic bags are fined 50,000 to 300,000 CFA francs (US$102 to $612). "We will even order a shop closed for a period of time – perhaps it's harsh, but it's the price to pay.

"Merchants have told me no mayor has ever been this tough on them," Mbailemdana said. "But in the end they say they're happy with it."

One reason is that plastic bags are not cost-effective for N'djamena's retailers. "Even for an item that costs 50 CFA francs [10 cents], people want léda – and each bag costs us 10 CFA francs," said Maïgari Bello, a shop owner in the southern town of Bongor.

Better hygiene

City residents told IRIN they appreciated the new law, but many said what was most important was educating people about better hygiene and sanitation in general.

"Prohibiting the use of plastic bags is a good thing for the cleanliness of the city," Mahamat Nour Dadji said. "But we have to practise good hygiene and take more care in how we discard things anyway."

The mayor acknowledged that alternatives were not fully developed when strict enforcement began, but said gradually it was coming. "If we want to do this, we can – the proof is, people are finding other means."

The recycled rice sack is one example: with a bit of tailoring, four smaller bags can be fashioned out of the original.

A woman in N'djamena's Dembé market, who gave just her first name, Ines, carried a small sack containing her wallet and a larger reusable bag folded up inside for her shopping.

"At first we often forgot to come to the market with our own bags, but now we're used to it."

People in other areas of Chad have not yet had to get used to it, however. Black plastic bags are still widely used outside the capital and discarded everywhere. The mayor said other cities were beginning to apply the law but it would take time.

Bongor vendor Bello, after handing some items to a customer in a black plastic bag, said people had become too accustomed to plastic bags and it would be good to break the habit. "We're tired of them; it will be better for everyone to go back to using what they did before léda was around."