Factory closed over ‘viroba’

Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA) yesterday shut down a liquor factory for ignoring a government ban against the packaging of spirits in sachets, commonly known as ‘viroba’.

A TFDA officer, Mr Kasela Kasubi, said the company, Aksa Organic Products, had on March 1, produced the banned product.

The government gave until March 1 for companies to stop packaging their alcholic drinks in sachets, which had made alcohol most affordable to all age groups.

Concerns were rife as young Tanzanians, including schooling-going youth, indulged in drinking spirits in sachets, which were being sold side by side with biscuits, pens, fruits and all manner of merchandise on roadsides.

There were also environmental concerns, and the fact that ‘viroba’, which are manufactured in backyards provided supplies for a parallel market that reportedly caused the government a loss of at least Sh600 million in unpaid taxes.

According to the TFDA official, yesterday was not the first time the factory had brushes with the law. Mr Kasubi said last November, Aksa Organic Products was ordered to destroy a total of 9,272 packets of ‘viroba’ and 94 of bottled liquor because the products didn’t have production date and batch numbers.

“We ordered them to destroy these products at their own expense, and stop production, but they have violated that order, so legal action will be taken against them,” he said.

He noted that the factory produced a pine-flavoured product named ‘Necha’, packaged in 100 and 300ml sachets and bottles, with 37 per cent alcohol.

An environmental officer with the Ilala Municipal, Ms Faeda Magesa, said the factory had also failed to properly dispose solid waste on its premises.

“The factory is full of solid waste and there’s no place for dumping it,” she noted.