Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE government has expressed satisfaction over implementation of its directive to phase out plastic seals on water bottles as means of pro-tecting the environment.
Minister of State in the Vice President’s Office (Union Affairs and Environment), Dr Selemani Jafo, said manufacturers of the bottles have continued implementing the directive.
Mr Jafo issued the directive in October this year.
On Tuesday, this week, Minister Jafo made a fol- low up at some industries in Kigamboni district, Dar es Sa mlaam region, to see if the direc-tive was being implemented or not.
He visited and inspected the Watercom industry, which produces Afya water bottles and the Tanzania Ruider Co. Ltd that manufactures plastics and pipes.
Dr Jafo said the government had issued the ban on such seals because they polute the environment when randomly disposed, a situation that could lead to deaths of livestock and fishe when are consumed.
The minister however said some companies were yet to implement the directive, insisting that after the deadline set, the government will take action.
In line with this, he assured citizens that even with absence of the cap seals, sub- standard water bottles would be controlled.
“I have to this industry in Kigamboni and I have been pleased to see that they have already started implementing the directive. They no longer use the plastic seal cap and in- stead they use special machine for stamping,” he said.
Commenting, Mr William Mhavila, an official with one of the industries, said they have stopped using some machines they used before to produce the plastic seal caps to protect the environment. In another development, Dr Jafo was impressed after noticing that Tanzania Rui- dar Co. Ltd has set up a water treatment system to avoid flowing of dirty water to peo- ple’s residences.
He said the factory has implemented the directive by 100 per cent while appealing to other industries to emulate it in order to protect the environment.
The minister used the op- portunity to direct environmental officers in Kigamboni district to make regular follow ups to see whether the industries keep on adhering to legal requirements for protecting environment.
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