… Over 16,000 Factories Produce Sachet Water In Nigeria
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has said it would close down all packaged water production facilities that fail the ‘Good Manufacturing Practice’ (GMP) requirements as it pledges to collaborate with the various associations in the efforts to sanitise the packaged water sector of the economy.
Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, disclosed these on Friday, in Abuja, at a virtual stakeholders’ meeting with packaged water producers in Nigeria on the need to sanitise the industry.
Adeyeye, however, appealed to the 412 producers that participated in the interactive forum to always ensure that the level of compliance with NAFDAC regulatory requirements for which their products were registered be maintained at all times.
Adeyeye, in a statement signed by Resident Media Consultant to NAFDAC, Sayo Akintola, yesterday, expressed dismay that after procuring registration approval, many of the over 16,000 registered producers of packaged water across Nigeria, more often than not, do lower standards and produce under despicable conditions, putting the health of Nigerians at risk.
“Today, we are gathered on this platform as producers of packaged water and we all know that the situation in Nigeria today is such that the entire Nigerian populace (including the healthy, elderly, pregnant women, children and the weak with low immunity) depend on packaged water for sustenance, as many believe falsely or rightly that the municipal water, where available, may hardly be safe for drinking,” she said.
Describing water as a unique product because it has no alternative, Adeyeye said everybody needs water or at least water-based product for hydration, proper digestion of food, drugs and other human needs to sustain life. The NAFDAC boss, however, said that water could only sustain life when it is available for drinking in the safe and potable form; otherwise, it could cause health complications and even death.
Both national presidents of the Association of Table Water Producers (ATWAP), Mrs. Tina Ativie, and Water Producers Association of Nigeria (WAPAN), Mr. Egberi Odiri Mackson, commended NAFDAC for the initiative and expressed the desire of their associations to cooperate and collaborate with NAFDAC to ensure sanity in the packaged water sector.
