•ATWAP seeks FG’s intervention to save industry

There are fears that Nigeria may suffer another round of water-borne disease outbreaks as many Nigerians are returning to unhealthily packaged water, otherwise known as ice water, due to the rising cost of sachet and table water.

This comes as the Association for Table Water Producers (ATWAP) warned that the prices of water in sachets and bottles would continue to skyrocket due to the high and inconsistent prices of packaging materials, which have caused the industry great economic strain.

The body said the price of a sachet of water (popularly known as pure water), which currently sells for between N30 and N50 due to the high cost of packaging materials, especially by nylon manufacturers, may be increased to N100 if the challenges persist, while bottled water, which sells between N150 and N200, may also go up.

The Guardian gathered that across many states of the federation, ice water has resurfaced while the rise in the cost of sachet and bottled water has forced many low-income learners to return to the unhealthy choice.

Addressing a press conference, ATWAP National President, Clementina Ativie, charged the government to act urgently noting that the reduction of waterborne disease due to the emergence of packaged water should not and never be ignored. She sought the intervention of the federal government to avoid the total collapse of the availability and affordability of sachet water to Nigerians.

She said the industry is faced with challenges of multiple taxation and extortion as well as overlapping functions of different regulatory agencies, turning them into cash cows.

Ativie lamented that despite the government’s intervention to support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), no government or its agencies have ever remembered the sector for any sort of palliative or financial consideration to enhance their businesses, rather, they are being faced with regulatory bottlenecks, which have become a cog in their wheel.

She said: “We have so many criminals parading water factories, claiming to be working under regulatory agencies and extorting unsuspecting members.”
While emphasizing the importance of maintaining steady and reasonable pricing for their products, amid changing market dynamics, she, however, said the inconsistency in the price increase of their packaging materials and the frequency it occurs, especially by nylon manufacturers have caused the sector great economic strain.

Lamenting that businesses in the water industry are struggling to survive due to the aforementioned, the ATWAP boss, appealed to the government to establish a special water production and supply intervention fund for them to access at a single-digit interest rate.

This, Ativie said, would help to stabilise the business and reduce the pain they are currently going through in the water industry.

“Water has no boundary, whether rich or poor, but the poor should be able to afford sachet water. We have been trying our best to make sure that sachet water gets to the doorstep of every Nigerian. But the truth of the matter is that for how long are we supposed to subsidise the price for which water is supposed to be sold?

“Petroleum products are being provided by the government but the price of water, we bear the cost at all times and that is the fear we have now, the masses have to bear with us.

“The government should look into water because water is the most important aspect of human life and human existence that we should not ignore. I don’t see why a sachet of water would be going for N50 and it would still go up to N100 if care is not taken.

“The truth is if we bring back water in the nylon (ice water) we are bringing back waterborne diseases. The regulatory bodies won’t be able to monitor things tied in the nylon.