By Julie Badui Owa – EMTV News, Lae
The Chinese company, Xing Long Investment trading as Wang Sheng Limited, operating in a residential area in Lae was ordered to shut down for an indefinite period by the Lae City Council Health Department. This follows concerns raised by a family on media last week on the factory waste disposed to their residence, after reporting the matter to Lae City Council last year and nothing was done.
The company ceased operations yesterday for failing to provide legal health and safety evidence after two separate inspections by Building Board and Health from Lae Urban LLG last year, and a follow-up inspection on the weekend by the waste management team. The factory was ordered to stop work yesterday by the waste management team from Lae City Council Health Department.
Lae City Council Waste management officer, Peter Wiwi issued a closure notice to the company’s General Manager, Hui Chen who ignored and failed to provide legal evidence to operate. This came after an inspection by the waste management team last week Friday. The concerned identified during the inspection by the waste management team, was how the septic tank was constructed. The septic was sealed.
Wiwi said this was not built according to the legal government septic standard. The company also failed to provide an approved grease trap plan when processing sausages. The company located at 2 Mile has been a health concern since the setup of the premises in 2014. To date, no action was taken by the company to improve on the problems identified during the inspections last year and the follow-up last week. Documents given to the inspection team also show that the building was approved to be storage warehouse, however, it was operating as a sausage factory.
