FACTORY owners in the country have been urged to install industrial wastewater and sewage storage and treatment systems to prevent the same from flowing freely and pollute the environment and affect health of the people.

Dr Ashatu Kijaji, the Union and Environment state minister in the Vice President’s Office (VPO) made this appeal yesterday while on a working visit to inspect levels of compliance with environmental regulations at the Future Colourful factory, recycling scrap metal and plastic bags on the outskirts of the capital, Dodoma.

Asserting that the government recognises the vital role of investors in the economy, she emphasised the need to comply with environmental regulations while increasing productivity in various sectors of the economy.

Factory operators should find better ways with sewage and wastewater by recycling flowing output so that it can be reused in industrial activity, also cutting down factory water bills in due course, she said.

In the visit Dr Kijaji noted that the cargo of waste that is used on raw materials was collected without being covered, telling the management that the factory needs to store the hazardous cargo in a better way by ensuring that it is covered.

She praised the management for collecting wastes and the recycling them while expressing worries that when it rains uncovered waste will indeed be wasted, not raw materials anymore.

Investors similarly need to hire environmental experts to work with them to make it easier to find convenient ways to carry out instructions regarding environmental care, the minister noted.

Factory workers also need to have protective gear to protect them from inadvertent contact or odours o of collected wastes to protect their health, she said.

She directed the National Environment Management Council (NEMC) to provide the factory management with a control number so that they pay the fine they are required to pay due to violating the rule banning plastic bags previously.

Commending them for correcting the flaw and starting to produce alternative bags that are friendly to the environment, she was glad the factory was a positive addition n environmental sanitation by collecting waste and recycling it

 Zakia Juma, the factory supervisor standing in for director Wang Dajing, promised to work on the minister’s instructions, urging the government to maintain support for investors, with regular updates on environmental care.