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Three water bottling firms shut down in Ajman

AJMAN - Ajman Municipality closed down three water bottling companies recently for bottling untreated water - a serious health hazard to the public.

According to Mohair Saeed Al Jarah, Head of the Health Section of Ajman Municipality, several other companies have been warned and fined for violating the health and hygiene regulations of the emirate.

Giving details of the civic body’s operative procedures to curb malpractice, the municipality official said that the inspectors visit water bottling companies every week and take samples of the water for analysis at the civic body’s central laboratory.

“There are more than 47 packing and filling stations (companies) located in various residential areas in Ajman. Most of the companies are found to be following the hygiene rules as specified by the municipality. Some of the companies were warned of closure for not erecting a glass partition around the filling station so as to keep the water away from pollutants.”

The workers of the water bottling companies were issued occupational health certificates and ordered by the inspectors of the section to wear the municipality’s uniforms, Mr Saeed Al Jarah added.

Dr Mohammed Attia, Deputy Head of the municipality’s Health Section, said that the municipality’s inspection campaign was intensified to follow the performance of these companies and water treatment factories, located in the industrial area in Ajman. Inspectors from the health section regularly visit the factory premises, check for their compliance with the rules and take samples for laboratory testing. They also ensure that the factories abide by the rules regarding labelling, caps and the tamper-proof sleeve, he added.

He pointed out that the municipality has 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,” Dr Attia said.

A top official of the municipality’s Central Laboratory said that as part of municipality’s efforts to ensure that the water packing and distributing companies in Ajman follow the health requirements and descriptions, the laboratory launched a study to learn about their operations. The study includes evaluation of performances of filling stations, standards of hygiene in the factories premises, quality of sterilisation machines and the methods and process of production. The study also covered the results of the water sample analyses by the laboratory to learn about malpractices by such companies.

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