BEVERLY HILLS, March 30, (THEWILL) – In its resolve to ensure that Lagosians get wholesome water at all times, the Association of Table Water Producers of Nigeria (ATWAP) has entered into a partnership with the Lagos State Government, through the Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission (LASWARCO), the agency with the mandate for water regulations.
Speaking at a stakeholders meeting held recently in Lagos, Executive Secretary, (LASWARCO), Mrs. Funke Femi Adepoju stated that there was need for the commission and ATWAP to collaborate on standards that would eventually force fake water producers out of the business.
Mrs. Adepoju advised water producers to always conform to the regulatory requirements of the state within which they operated, stressing that both organisations had a very great responsibility on water.
Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mrs. Clementina Chinwe Ativie, made it clear that NAFDAC was a Federal body that went beyond matters relating to water, adding, “The law of the state is still binding irrespective of NAFDAC. We are not working at cross purposes. We don’t disturb each other.”
On the right of water producers from other states to sell in Lagos State, Adepoju said “no law restricts” water manufacturers in Ogun not to sell in Lagos.
She, however, advised that the survival of producers of bad table water to Lagos depended on how water producers coordinated themselves.
“Once we fix our houses, then we can reel out the conditions under which we can operate. Let’s fix our houses first,” she said.
Adepoju said the issue of licensing borehole drillers was going to be taken seriously to ensure that what they were drilling were safe.
In her own part, the National President of ATWAP, Clementina Chinwe Ativie, said the group decided to compliment the effort of the regulatory agencies by supporting the Lagos State Government through LASWARCO.
Mrs. Ativie stressed that they had become involved because any society with adequate safe potable or wholesome water was a healthy society.
Ativie also appealed for punitive measures against producers who failed to meet the approved standards, just as she advocated for policies that should guide water producers in Lagos State.
About the Author
