Crackdown on Five Water Factories!
Orders from the government of Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Health and the Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone has closed down five water packaging factories that have failed the minimum standard of operation in the West of the Capital-Freetown. Â (Photo: One of the Factories that failed Minimum Criteria)
Bolon Pure Water, Pure and Clean, One Stone, Fatbank, Premium Pure water were all closed by officials of the Pharmacy Board, water and sanitation unit of the Ministry of Health and officers of the Sierra Leone police force whilst temporary hold was put on the Blue Spring Pure Water Bottling Company who went through most of the standard procedures but needing some rectifications in some areas which engineered it brief closure until it makes such rectification; probably in a few days time. Â
WCN Johnson leading the raid on fake water
The exercise which started yesterday followed a stake holders meeting of all those involved in the water packaging industry with orders from government for the Pharmacy Board to regulate the processing and distribution of packaged water in a bid to protecting public health of citizens who are said to be at risk of contaminants from the products of most of the water factories in the country.
Apart from the Blue Spring Pure Water Bottling Company, all the other five factories inspected by the Pharmacy Board failed the minimum criteria for the operation of water packaging outlets, a situation the Registrar of the Pharmacy Board WCN Johnson described during the raid as disturbing and very much damaging to the health of the gullible and ordinary citizens.
The Registrar during the stake holders conference last week intimated that a laboratory test conducted on packaged water both local and imported show gross contamination and as such are a feasible threat to the public health of the citizens.
All five of the factories that were closed down failed basic sanitary criteria, handling and expertise knowledge in the production of water.
Head of the Inspection Department at the Pharmacy Board Mr. Shuary Barlatt told media men that the Board and the Environmental Health Department of the Ministry of Health are all braced up to put down this growing menace that has rocked the country, adding that studies has shown that packaged water is what is responsible for most of the diarrhea, typhoid and water born diseases plaguing the country.
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