Dealers of sachet water in Gusau have complained of low patronage, caused by the current rainy season, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
A cross section of the dealers expressed the concern in a market survey conducted by NAN in Gusau on Wednesday.
Alhaji Aminu Bello, dealer of Rahama sachet water, said that there was low patronage during rainy season, compared to dry season when the business was flourishing.
Bello said that during dry season, he supplied between 4,000 and 3,700 bags of water daily while he hardly sold up to 1,000 bags during the rainy season.
Bello said that due to the low patronage, some of the workers were laid off since their services were no longer needed.
He, however, said that some of the workers returned to their farms, while the rest returned to provision business temporarily.
Mallam Ibrahim Isah, another seller, said that there were low sales because people hardly drank water during the period.
Isah said that although customers still patronised him, the demand had fallen during the cold season.
Hajia Salamatu Abdullahi said that another reason associated with the low patronage was the recent increase in the price of the product.
Salamatu said that just two months ago, the cost of the product was increased to N10 per sachet from N5 and the development was not easily acceptable by all.
She said that many people reverted to getting potable water from public taps, bore-holes and hand-dug wells. (NAN)
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