Bottled water, consumer goods confiscated by Sudan Authority

The Sudanese Authority for Standardisation and Metrology confiscated large quantities of bottled water in El Gezira state last week. In Blue Nile state tons of expired consumer goods were seized. The Sudanese Congress Party (SCP) has demanded an investigation of the quality of water bottled in Khartoum state.

Approximately 19,000 bottles of mineral and soda water were seized in Wad Madani, capital of El Gezira state, because they did not meet the required specifications, Abu Zeid El Sheikh, spokesman for the Authority’s El Gezira branch told the press on Thursday.

Mohamed Ali El Awad, the director of the Authority’s Blue Nile branch explained to reporters in the state capital of Ed Damazin on Thursday that 21,5 tons of basic commodities were confiscated in the town that day, because of exceeded expiration dates and poor storage. He added that his staff had also discovered large numbers of boxes with sweets that had been refilled.

The spokesman for the Sudanese Congress Party (SCP), Bakri Yousef, told Radio Dabanga on Friday that his party is demanding the formation of an independent committee to investigate the bottled water producedin Khartoum state.

He pointed to reports about drinking water sources contaminated by sewage, as well as the rapidly growing number of kidney failure cases and “other, unusual diseases” in the country.