Sausage factory closes after settlers complain of waste

By EREBIRI ZURENUOC
THE Lae City Council had closed a sausage factory at 2-Mile following complaints raised by a family last week regarding the dumping of waste.
The factory closed at 10am yesterday.
Council’s senior health inspector Paul Wiwi told The National yesterday that a notice of closure was served on Wang Chen Ltd general-manager Hui Chan.
“The council’s health division has officially served a notice of the indefinite closure of the factory,” he said.
“The factory will be closed until all the requirements of the closure notice are met.”
Wiwi said council officers had twice inspected the factory and issued notices which were ignored.
“We had two inspectors from the health and building section inspecting the company premises previously,” he said.
“I did a follow-up last Friday and found out that there were many defects in the structure of the building.
“The initial construction of the building was for a warehouse and not a factory.”
He said there were no installments for all grease traps and piping that would cater for all waste
from the factory, among other defects.
“The company is using a septic tank to store waste, and they did not follow the factory requirements,” Wiwi said.
“When I did a health inspection last Friday, all the requirements were not met.
“They constructed a small tank that cannot cater for the waste that gets in.
“The waste cannot be absorbed into the ground underneath it because there is solid matter, and grease trapped inside.
“When the level of liquid waste is high, it overflows.”
Wiwi said the first complaint was made in 2014, but nothing was done because.
“The requirement is that the waste must be discharged into the sewer lines or septic tank, but they have been discharged into the open stream,” he said.
“There will still be problems and people will still be affected if the production goes on.
“The closure of the factory is effective.
“The manager must see us to help him with the requirements as stated in the notice.
“When the requirements are met, we will open the factory.
“If not, it will be shut down for good and that is our stance.”
Wiwi said the council’s health division had no logistical support to help them carry out their duties, which was why complaints were taking a long time to be dealt with.