The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has disputed claims by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), that about 90 per cent of sachet water being sold are just repackaged tap water.
According to the FDA, their regular monitoring and checks makes it impossible for sachet water producers to do that.
According to the FDA's Head of Communications, Mr James Lartey, the processes meant for registering sachet water business does not allow them to engage in mere repackaging of treated water from the GWCL.
He noted however that, “You could get one or two people who are not registered with the FDA. Yes…somebody may illegally do that but in practice you will never get anybody bagging directly from the taps.”
Speaking on Citi FM Friday, Mr Lartey said in Accra alone the FDA has about 30 staff who go around on daily basis to monitor the activities of about 500 sachet producers.
There are 1,238 brands of sachet water registered nationwide.
Mr Lartey also stated that the FDA has officers deployed nationwide to do routine inspections of the sachet water producing factories.
Is tap water safe for consumption?
Although the FDA is mandated to regulate among others the quality of water being served the public, Mr Lartey said its mandate was not extended to the GWCL.
“Our mandate as FDA is to regulate the import, export, manufacture, distribution and sale of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices and chemicals…When we talk about manufacture we are talking about process. The water from GWCL is seen as a raw material that people will pick and process it into something else and package it. That is what we do,” he explained.
Background
The Public Relations Officer of the GWCL, Mr Stanley Martey on Thursday alluded that 90 per cent of sachet water was just repackaged tap water.
According to him, producers of sachet water add no added value to the water they sell to consumers.
His claims come in the wake of increment in sachet water prices by the National Association of Sachet and Packaged Water Producers following the hikes in water tariffs.
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