Lagos State govt seals up 30 substandard sachet water factories

The Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission (LASWARCO) has shut down 30 water factories for various infractions ranging from an unhygienic production environment, failure to comply with regulatory provisions as well as operating without adhering to good manufacturing practices.

This was disclosed on Wednesday in a statement by the Government  titled, ‘LASWARCO seals 30 water factories over substandard practices.’ According to the statement, the operation took place on Tuesday and the Executive Secretary of LASWARCO, Funke Adepoju, said that the closure was carried out to protect Lagosians from consumption of unhygienic water.

“In as much as we have the mandate to ensure that operators remain in business, we also cannot fold our arms and allow infractions to fester without being addressed. The primary regulatory mandate of the Commission is to ensure that operators in the water abstraction, production, and distribution industry comply with best manufacturing procedures to safeguard the health of the people,” the statement quoted Adepoju as saying.

Mrs. Adepoju said the level of poor and unwholesome practices discovered in some water factories in Lagos was not only disheartening but frightening, vowing that LASWARCO would do all within its powers to ward off any attempt to put the lives of residents in jeopardy.

The Executive Secretary went further to give details on the enforcement as she said: “The enforcement team of LASWARCO visited some water production factories in the State with on-site testing kits and the result confirmed that most of them are operating far below safety parameters.

As the regulatory body empowered by Section 313 (h) of the Lagos State Environmental Management Protection Law, 2017, to regulate the activities of those engaged in the provision, consumption, treatment, packaging, sales and supply of bottled drinking water contained in bottles or polythene bags, our principal interest is to ensure acceptable standards”, the Executive Secretary added.

She restated the commitment of the government to ensure that residents have access to potable and safe drinking water in line with the T.H.E.M.E.S. Agenda and Goal Six of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), insisting that the factories would remain sealed until their owners comply with all safety procedures and duly register for further monitoring in order to facilitate compliance with best practices.