Standards body suspends 369 water bottling companies over health risk
Kenya Bureau of Standards Managing Director Charles Ongwae (right), Director of Standards Development Charles Gachahi (centre) and Acting Director of Quality Assurance and Inspection Eric Chesire at a sensitisation workshop on quality standards for water bottlers at the Panari Hotel in Nairobi yesterday. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- De-registered firms will need to undergo new vetting by agency and health departments.
The Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) has suspended the licences of 369 water bottling companies that it said posed a health risk to consumers.
Kebs chief executive Charles Ongwae yesterday said the firms, which he declined to name, were found operating without valid permits.
Their premises were also unhygienic while the water they bottle is from questionable sources.
“Over the last couple of months, we have been doing quality surveillance on the water sector ... We have concluded that a number of them are not meeting the standards on bottled water. Today we have announced the suspension of about 369 companies. What this actually means is that they are supposed to stop selling the water to the public until they come for the re-certification,” said Mr Ongwae.
The Kebs boss said affected firms had used all manner of tricks to breach the laid down quality standards, risking the lives of users.
“Some of the people we licensed to bottle water have relocated and we now do not know the source of their water because if you relocate from the licensed premises it basically means you have a new source of water. Some have their permits expired for more than one year and they haven’t come for renewal,” he said.
Mr Ongwae admitted that the counterfeiting trade had flourished as unscrupulous businessmen took advantage of the weak enforcement capacity by State agencies even as he read the Riot Act to the remaining unlicensed players in the sector, saying they would face severe punishment.
Firms whose licences were suspended will be forced to undergo new vetting by State agencies including the Kenya Revenue Authority and public health departments.
Kebs says it has only licensed about 600 water bottlers but estimates that there are many more firms engaged in the business.
Kebs has plans to introduce a mandatory quality mark on water bottles to rein in quacks.
“It will make it difficult for anyone without the mark to sell the water,” he said.
More than 400 representatives of water bottlers from all parts of the country attended a crisis meeting in Nairobi organised by the regulator to sensitise them on quality compliance. The forum came following complaints that poor quality water was putting the health of consumers at peril.
KRA Commissioner-General John Njiraini said last month that the illegal water bottling trade was denying the country billions of shillings in revenue.
“The water and juices sector is one of the fastest-growing industries in the country, but statistics indicate that over 60 per cent of the water and juices are illicit,” he said.
A recent World Bank/IFC study detailing the bottled water market in Kenya estimated sales at Sh12 billion a year.
