• Home

17 bottling firms closed down for violating rules

AJMAN — At least 17 water bottling companies in Ajman have been shut down and several others warned and fined for violating health and hygiene regulations.

by

Afkar Ali Ahmed

• Follow us on
• 
• 
• 

Published: Tue 14 Jun 2005, 10:22 AM

Last updated: Thu 2 Apr 2015, 7:58 PM

The Ajman Municipality, however, refused to release the names of the companies even as many consumers complained about poor quality water being distributed by many companies in Sharjah and Ajman.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Sameera Mohammed Al Hassan, a consumer, said the water delivered to her yesterday by the grocery keeper of her building tasted and smelt bad, and it spoilt the milk when she tried to make tea.

"We kept the water and told the grocery keeper to stop delivering water to us. He offered to replace it with water from another company which was found to be of better quality," she said.

After the Ajman Municipality received several complaints from consumers regarding the bad quality of drinking water, it intensified its efforts to curb such violations indulged in by bottling companies.

Saif Salim Al Shamsi, Deputy Director of the Municipality, said that in Ajman, there were more than 40 water bottling and filling companies located in various residential areas of the emirate.

"The inspectors visit these companies which fill and pack water from well-treated sources every week and take samples for testing at the central laboratory of the municipality. Most of these companies follow the hygiene and health requirements made mandatory by the civic body. But some of them were banned from filling water in the streets, and were asked to install glass partitions to protect the water from being contaminated by polluted air.

The workers of the water filling and packing companies were issued health certificates and were ordered by the inspectors of the section to wear the municipality's uniforms," he said.

Al Shamsi said the municipality's inspection campaign was intensified to monitor the performance of these companies and of water treatment factories located in industrial area in Ajman.

Inspectors from the Health Section regularly visit the factories, check their compliance with rules and take samples for laboratory testing. They also ensure that the factories abide by the rules regarding labelling, caps and tamper-proof sleeve.

He pointed out that the municipality had set standards for bottled water based on requirements and descriptions of International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) for operating bottled water companies.

"The Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) standard is also being applied to bottled water industry," Al Shamsi said

An official of the municipality's central laboratory said they had launched a survey to study the functioning of such companies.

The study includes evaluation of performances of stations and companies, standards of hygiene in factory premises, quality of sterilisation machines and methods of production.

The study also covered the result of water sample analyses by the laboratory during the survey process to detect malpractices by such companies.

The study came out with several recommendations and brought violations to the municipality's notice, which warned some companies and asked them to abide by the health and hygiene regulations.

• UAE