20% of our members closed shop in 6 months, table water producers lament

The Association of Table Water Producers of Nigeria (ATWAP), Ogun Chapter says over 20 per cent of its members shut down production between January to June, due to poor infrastructure.

Mr Babatunde Lawal, State Chairman of ATWAP, who said this Monday in Ota, Ogun, added that the affected members were unable to continue production due to lack of critical infrastructure, which militate against their business.

Lawal identified bad roads, poor power supply and government policies as challenges that impeded the effective distribution of their product.

He said that some of the challenges such as increased fuel price and general hike in cost of raw materials also resulted in increased costs of vehicle repair and cost of production in the long run.

“We are appealing to the state and Federal Governments to redouble their efforts towards providing an enabling environment for businesses to thrive,” he said.

Lawal emphasised the need for provision of critical infrastructure because any firm or business that shutdown would automatically downsize all its employees, thus leading to increased unemployment rate.

NAN