More than 90 plants producing drinking water in Vientiane are
distributing their products to the public despite lacking the necessary
certification from the Ministry of Health's Food and Drug Department.
The factories in question have
been told to improve the standard of their operations. However, some of them
are illegally selling water before completing the necessary improvements and
inviting the authorities to check and approve their production.
Health officials are very
concerned about substandard drinking water in the capital, fearing that water
distributed by substandard factories could affect the health of people both in
the short and long term.
Savengvong Douangsavanth,
director General of the Bureau of Food and Drug Inspection under the ministry
of health, told Vientiane Times yesterday that authorities have warned the
substandard factories to improve themselves before the Food and Drug Department
can register their products.
In principle, the industry and
commerce sector has the responsibility of approving a drinking water production
facility. Once it is completed, the factory owner needs to ask for a letter of
approval from the Food and Drug Department before distributing their product.
But many businesspeople have
ignored this requirement as they don't want to lose profit while struggling to
meet the standards required.
In 2009, health officials closed
down 18 drinking water plants after their products were found to be substandard
in laboratory tests before the 25th SEA Games in Vientiane.
Five months ago, the authorities
closed down a drinking water plant in Chanthabouly district in Vientiane due to
their failure to follow standards required by authorities, after having been
warned not to repeat their mistakes.
The law enforcement sector needs
to work harder to ensure wrongdoers face legal action for breaking the law and
affecting the health of other people.
Many drinking water plants tried
not to follow the standard requirements so they could reduce production costs
and earn extra profit from the business.
Currently, there are 150 drinking
water plants in Vientiane, of which over 90 are reported substandard and have
yet to be registered by the Food and Drug Department.
Critics say it is important to
publish the names of both standard and substandard plants in the media so that
the public know exactly which plants they should buy water from and which
plants they should not.
Media publicising would encourage
the business sector to strictly follow the law and standard requirements for
the good health of all people in Laos.
Meanwhile, health officials urged
local residents to boil water to drink to avoid health problems which may
result from buying by water from substandard plants.
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