Ordinary tap and tube well water filled in bottles with labels of different mineral water brands are being sold at the Barisal launch, steamer and bus terminals, New Age can reveal.
Criminal gangs are employing street children to bottle ordinary tap and tube well water in used mineral water bottles and selling them to the unsuspecting people.
This business is taking place with the knowledge of the transport police and employees, with no government authorities taking any action to stop this illegal business which poses serious threat to public health.
Street children are paid to collect used mineral water bottles discarded on the street or in dustbins, then to fill the bottles with ordinary tap or tube well water and to sell them to launch, steamer and bus passengers.
A total of about 50 street children were seen by New Age directly engaged in the bottling and selling of these bottles of water in different transport terminals.
At the Barisal launch ghat, 17 boys, all looking under 12 years of age, were involved in this process under the very nose of the terminal police.
Sakib, one of the boys, told New Age that a group of ‘baro bhai’ (senior brothers) had engaged some boys in collecting empty bottles.
They receive Tk 1 for every two empty bottles collected.
Milon, another boy, said his group was engaged in filling tap or other water into the collected mineral water bottles.
They get Tk 2 for every ten bottles they fill.
All the children are then involved in selling the ‘bottled’ water.
The young boys receive 40 per cent of the money they collect from the sales of the bottled water, earning them each about Tk 30 to 40 per day.
Over 100 traders are believed by local people to be connected with this business for a long time.
They change their political identities when a new government comes to power and are able to manage the authorities so that they can continue with the business.
The Barisal Port and bus terminal officials admitted to New Age that they knew this business was going on but did not conduct any operation against it as they did not know under what legal authority they could take action.
They also feared that the businesses were protected by influential political figures
Dr Anil Chandra, the Barisal civil surgeon, said to control this business was the job of the local environment department, consumers association and concerned terminal authorities and the health department ‘had no authority to conduct operation against these criminals’.
Local people who knew about this business advised people coming to Barisal to be careful in purchasing mineral water.
