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In the Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State, officials from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control reported that they had closed eight table water facilities and ten unlicensed bakeries.
By: Peace Adisa
The agency claimed that the shutdown was carried out throughout a three-day operation with the help of police and that the goal of the action was to purge the state of phony and unhealthy goods.
This was said in a statement made on Tuesday in Port Harcourt by Mr. Cyril Monye, the Public Relations Officer for NAFDAC’s South-South Zone.
In Port Harcourt, the state capital, Monye revealed that some of the firms not only carried the names of well-known companies but also functioned in an unsanitary environment.
“The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control stormed Bonny Island in Bonny Island, Local Government Area of Rivers State shutting down 10 substandard/unregistered bakeries and eight table water factories in an unprecedented move to rid Rivers State of fake and unwholesome products,” the statement said.
Over the course of the three-day operation, NAFDAC personnel received security and assistance from a detachment of police officers from Finima and Bonny Divisional Headquarters.
Speaking during the operation, Chukwuma Oligbo, Director of NAFDAC for the South-South Zone, stated that the action was required as a result of the agency’s meticulous investigations and monitoring as well as consumer complaints from the Island regarding subpar bakeries and sachet/table water manufacturers.
Oligbo stated, “It was discovered that some of the quack bakeries were producing in ramshackle facilities made with woods and rusty congregated iron sheets with inappropriate baking equipment while the workers were not properly kitted.
“The loaves of bread were stored in a very unhygienic manner with flies perching on them. Some of the bakeries also bear the names of popular breads in Port Harcourt.”
“Most of the bakeries were not registered by NAFDAC and unregisterable because they cannot meet the minimum requirement for registration, while few that were registered by the agency have expired licenses or have relocated from their initial place of registration in Port Harcourt to Bonny Island without notifying the agency for formal documentation and mandatory inspections.”
He further said some of the table water factories which were mostly involved in the production of sachet water were not using filtration equipment and a facility that was in production of bottled and jar water was manually filling the jars with a locally improvised machine instead of an automated process, which is the acceptable standard recommended by NAFDAC.
The Zonal Director urged those who are in default of their product license renewal to use the waiver provided by the Director General from January to March and renew their licenses, adding that NAFDAC is always ready to guide producers in doing the right thing.
He however said hard times await those who intentionally flouts NAFDAC regulations.
The three-day operation took NAFDAC to the length and breadth of Finima and Bonny, both in Bonny LGA, as Pharmacies and Supermarkets were also inspected where various violations were discovered ranging from unregistered products and unsafe storage of injections, the statement added.
He went on to say that some of the table water factories, which produced sachet water primarily, did not use filtration equipment, and that a facility that produced bottled and jarred water filled the jars by hand using a homemade machine in the area rather than automatically, as per NAFDAC’s recommended acceptable standard.
The Zonal Director emphasized that NAFDAC is always there to assist manufacturers in acting morally, and he urged those who have neglected to renew their product licenses to take advantage of the waiver granted by the Director General from January to March.
He did, however, warn those who willfully break NAFDAC standards that terrible times were ahead.
The statement also stated that over the three days of the operation, NAFDAC covered the entire length of Finima and Bonny, both in Bonny LGA. Supermarkets and pharmacies were also searched, and a number of infractions, including the storing of injections improperly and unregistered products, were found.
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