Lagos Shuts Down 30 ‘Pure’ Water Factories Over Substandard Practices

The Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission has shut down 30
water factories over substandard practices including poor
production environment and failure to comply with regulatory
provisions.

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.

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.

The Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission has shut down 30
water factories over substandard practices including poor
production environment and failure to comply with regulatory
provisions.

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.

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.