The Civil Liberty Organisation (CLO) in Rivers has said that the plan to ban sachet water would increase unemployment and poverty rates in the country.
Mr Livingstone Wechie, the Publicity Secretary of the organisation, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Port Harcourt.
Wechie said that the ban would be a negation of President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda.
He said that sachet water was an alternative source of potable water to the common man.
“Water-borne diseases are very common in the country because of poverty rate, but the sachet water has reduced it since its inception.
“A lot of people have been empowered through the production and sale of sachet water; some of these people were once frustrated,’’ he said.
Wechie called on the Federal Government to have a rethink, saying that it should instead device means of improving the quality of the water.
According to him, NAFDAC should do more work by fishing out the adulterated ones as well as closing down all unregistered sachet water industries.
He said that sachet water production was one of the country’s fastest growing industries and should be promoted for accelerated economic growth.
Wechie said the industry was indispensable in the nation’s march to economic advancement, describing it as panacea to poverty.
He advised government to provide recycling centres for sachets which could be turned to manure.
He bemoaned the use of contaminated water and substandard machines for production, adding that this posed a serious problem to the industry.
Wechie urged the sachet water producers to ensure strict regulation of the business, having in mind the penalties for quacks.
He said consumers should report any suspected sachet water producer to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and other appropriate quarters to save lives.
Wechie also appealed to consumers to always dispense the sachets properly so as not to litter the environment.
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