TWO WINE FACTORIES CLOSED BY UNBS OVER UNHYGIENIC STATUS
By Our Reporter
JK Pineapple and Umusheshe Pineapple wine processing factories in Mwanjari and Rushaki wards, respectively, in Southern Division were closed today, Fridaay.
About 100 workers are jobless after authorities in Kabale Municipality closed two wine processing factories over failure to meet standard operating requirements of the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS).
Alex Baingana, the principal assistant Town Clerk for Southern Division, and the municipal council health inspector, Mr Andrew Biija, ordered their closure after inspecting them.
“The factories are not meeting standard operational requirements. We are here to look at the conditions and the health status of your workplaces. Our role is to protect you. You don’t have first aid boxes, no fire extinguisher, and nurse; in case you collapse, you can die, that’s why we are here. We have closed these factories until further notice because your drinks are not cleared by UNBS,” Baingana told the workers.
“At JK Pineapple Wine, workers were found using dirty clothes to filtrate juice from cooked pineapples for fermentation and were operating in filthy rooms. We found marijuana planted next to saucepans and workers had no health certificates. So we have arrested the manager of the factory, Silva Byamukama, to explain to us,” he added.
Biija said at Umusheshe Pineapple Wine factory, more than 60 workers were not observing Covid-19 standard operating procedures and other safety guidelines.
Last year, the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) on 4th November, 2020 closed the Mukamanayamba branch in Gulu which was found producing drinks under unhygienic conditions.
According to information received at Drone Media desk, Mukamanayamba proprietor, Sam Byaruhanga, runs his business on blackmail. He reportedly maneuvered arrest of UNBS staff who querried the hygiene of his factory in Kabwohe. The two UNBS officers languish in prison over bribe allegations, yet the conditions of the factory were similar to this one of Gulu.
Now, the products manufactured in Gulu were found labeled as ‘manufactured in Kabwohe’. Yet Gulu facility has no certification permit and products manufactured in Gulu are illegally bearing the Q-mark!
” The Mukamanayamba operations were suspended over unhygienic conditions ,” the UNBS official told The Drone Media.
The drink has been flaunted as a herbal drink and an aphrodisiac; a stimulant, which excites most promiscuous men in Uganda.