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Food and Drug Dept. set to clamp down on illegal water companies
The absence of a certified operator on any water processing site could see the Government Analyst Food and Drug
Director of the Food and Drug Dept., Marlan Cole
Department (GA-FDD) taking legal action.
At least this is according to the GA-FDD Director, Marlan Cole, who has insisted that “failure to comply with the Department’s rules and processing requirements will result in legal action against defaulting establishments.”
Without an operator in place, Cole said that water processing/distribution establishments will be denied operating licences.
The Department had earlier this year convened a workshop with water distributors and processors in order to highlight the requirements for such businesses, including the employment of a certified water processing operator, by June 30, 2014. Previously the water processing companies were required to be licenced by April 30 annually.
However, since the requirement for trained operators was being recommended, moves were made to collaborate with EMPRETEC Guyana, to facilitate training. EMPRETEC is a non–profit institution with a mission to enhance private sector development by providing support to established, and emerging small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Moreover, training sessions were convened on two occasions – in March and May – where a total of 37 water processing operators were trained, allowing for the facilities they are associated with to seek operating licences.
But according to Cole, there are currently more than 70 known water processing and distribution locations in Guyana. And so given the number of trained operators, there are a number of such facilities that are yet to put themselves in order.
An EMPRETEC official yesterday said that the organisation is prepared to train even more operators – in batches of at least 15 – in the quest to ensuring that all functional water processing/distribution facilities are outfitted with the requisite personnel to enable licencing. The official disclosed that more than 50 representatives from various water processing organisations were enlightened to crucial water processing practices at the workshop held earlier this year. That workshop was spearheaded by the Food and Drug Department in collaboration with EMPRETEC.
The Food and Drug Director, at that sensitisation forum in January, regarded it as a necessary undertaking, since according to him “some of the practices, that obtain in the (water processing/distribution) industry today, have spiralled out of control…”
As such, Cole, in reminding that the stipulated deadline for licencing of such facilities has passed, emphasised that the presence of the Certified Operators on site must always be evident. According to him, too, manufacturers/processors of water are also being reminded of the Department’s requirement for sale of water, which calls for safe bottling, sealing and correct labelling to protect consumers.
In addition, Cole said that the operators of the water facilities are being asked to desist from illegal, unauthorised and unhygienic practices in the water processing and distribution industry.
These practices, he stated, include: “the use of funnels to aid the distribution of water in five gallon bottles to consumers; the use of unsealed or re-used caps on bottles leaving the processing establishment and the non-use of labels on bottles leaving the premises and in many cases the use of competitors’ labels on bottles that leave the premises of some proprietors.”
As a result, Cole said that the Department is calling on consumers and corporations, including ministries, to purchase water only from licenced entities. He disclosed that since licenced operators are mandated to display their licences conspicuously on their premises, customers could be able to easily ascertain the approved facilities.
“If you go to buy water and you do not see that licence on display you have the right to ask to see it before you decide to buy water from that facility,” Cole told this publication yesterday.
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