Sachet water that used to be for the common man in the street is now beyond his reach as the price has soared due to lack of foreign exchange to import machinery and other production materials.
The difficulties in getting foreign exchange and the steep fall in the value of the naira are seriously affecting the sachet water production in the country.
Daily Sun investigation revealed that the unprecedented fall in the value of the naira has made importation difficult and expensive, thereby resulting in high cost of production of sachet water.
Those who spoke to Daily Sun recently said if the situation continues, the country may be heading for epidemics as producers will not be able to produce quality sachet water for consumption.
The Chairman of the Association of Table Water Processors (ATWAP), the Ondo State branch, Mr. Jeff Agboola, lamented that a bag of the product, which usually contains 20 sachets and which was initially sold for N100, now goes for N150 as the wholesalers attributed the increased cost to the scarcity of dollars and the resultant depreciation of the naira, which means it has increased from N10 to N20 per sachet.
He further stressed that if the situation was not addressed urgently, it might lead to epidemics if the producers cannot have foreign exchange to import their materials.
According to Agboola, the prices of the materials, which are basically imported, have gone up because the dollar exchange rate has gone higher. He expressed displeasure against the hike in the price of the nylon used to package the sachet water, noting that the Port Harcourt-based nylon manufacturing company has been shut down due to its inability to import the required materials for packaging the product.
He said a kilogramme of the nylon, which was sold at N520 in January 2016 now costs N1,000. His words: “The product we use is nylon and it is very scarce now. The material was produced in Port Harcourt but the company has shut down production presently. As the company has closed down, there is no way we can get the material.
“The company is shut down and the Indian workers in the company have returned to their country. They will return when the dollar stabilises. Those of us that have paid for the product since last week are being refunded,” he said.
The country is in a big problem, if epidemics is allowed to occur in any part of the country. The fear among experts is that these waterborne diseases, if allowed to occur, may spread like fire and many people may die as a result of this.
The Executive Secretary of Association of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employers, Mr. Aderemi Adegboyega, said waterborne disease may be the worst if it is allowed to occur in any part of the country.
“We pray it doesn’t occur but if it occurs, it will spread like fire, which means many people may die as a result of these epidemics.”
He said the price of sachet water should be brought down so that people can have access to it, adding that many consumers may resort to drinking anything they see, if it is made cheaper for them.
On how to control waterborne diseases, he said that outbreak of waterborne disease can be checkmated by the provision of potable water, which is often regulated to keep public health, owing to the fact that
it is an important determinant of health.
Source: Thesun
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