The Food and Drugs Authority has said it does not have the mandate to check the quality of water produced by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL).<\/p>\n
The Head of Communications at the FDA, Stanley Martey, revealed this when he was asked on the Citi Breakfast Show<\/strong> whether water produced by the GWCL is purified and safe for drinking.<\/p>\n [contextly_sidebar id=”BkWu6Sfgcu2Xw61GAXlmnPoJAqxyijXT”]According to him, the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) is the main regulatory body expected to carry out such a role.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t check them, we do not have the right to check them. Our duty is to regulate the import, export, manufacture , distribution and sale of food , drugs , cosmetics, medical devices and chemicals . Water falls under food, so long as it is processed and packaged, we have the mandate to work on it, but if it is raw we do not have the mandate to work.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFDA does not regulate water being produced by Ghana Water. If for instance there is a standard by which water should be produced, Ghana Standards will give that standard and ensure that that standard is complied but when it comes to the water that they give out, FDA does not regulate it.<\/p>\n The debate about the quality of water from the Ghana Water Company has been ongoing following a claim by the company’s Public Relations Officer, that about 90% of sachet water producers only repackage the raw water from the company for onward distribution.<\/p>\n This explanation sought to debunk the notion that water from the company isn’t clean enough for consumption hence people’s preference for sachet water nowadays. Statistics from a 2014 research says \u00a029% of Ghanaians now resort to sachet water.<\/p>\n Sachet Water producers and the FDA have both denied the claim by the Ghana Water Company insisting they are serving the public with wholesome water.<\/p>\n According to the FDA, about 30 officers<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>monitor the operations of about 500 sachet water companies in the Greater Accra Region alone.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: \u00a0Marian Ansah\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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