RAWALPINDI: Local authorities held a public hearing on the Lahore-ordered checking of hygienic conditions in the garrison city’s food outlets on Wednesday. But, surprisingly, the outcome was relief to the few outlets fined or sealed for their unhygienic conditions and a general warning to all others.

District Coordination Officer Sajid Zafar Dall issued the warning after listening to the arguments of the owners of outlets at the hearing held at Potohar Hall. He gave them two days to clean up their outlets before the City District Government Rawalpindi inspection descend upon them. Any food outlet found dirty would be sealed, he warned.

A senior official told Dawn that about 40 people, including the owners of food outlets, responded to the DCO’s informal invitation to the public hearing through the Facebook social network. Members of the general public welcomed the Punjab government’s initiative. They called for continuing the drive to save the health of common people for prosecuting the violators of hygiene laws.

“Though belated, it is a good initiative,” said Muhammad Rafique shopping at a bakery in Saddar. “It will help customers keep clear of dirty food places.”

He suggested that their kitchens should have glass walls for the customers to see how clean they are.

Another shopper, Shahid Malik, recalled that some ten years ago a restaurant on Murree Road did put in a kitchen visible to customers sitting in the dining hall. “But the owner then moved abroad,” he said.

“Though the current is focused on cleanliness,” he added, “the local administration need also to ensure quality and reasonable price of the food sold.”

Moin Ahmed, a resident of Kashmiri Bazaar, wished the local administration also visited the narrow streets of the city where “food is prepared and sold in most unhygienic conditions”.

“Indeed, people at large need to be made aware of the value of cleanliness,” he said, observing that even at brighter spots, nan makers and milkmen are found running their trades with dirty hands.

Just 512 food outlets of the innumerable that dot the Rawalpindi city and cantonments hold licences under the Punjab Pure Food Act 1960 amended 2007. The district health department says it has issued licences to 104 shops of retailers of food items, 313 milk and sweet shops, two food factories and 93 bakers and restaurants.

The licence to food outlets is supposed to be issued after pathological examination of their chefs and workers, and check up for tuberculosis and hepatitis twice a year.

District Food Inspector Shahid Mehmood told Dawn that the raids the health department conducted recently to check the food outlets were of ‘routine nature’ because of shortage of food inspectors in the district.

After the appointment of 50 food inspectors last month, action against sub-standard food outlets has increased, however.

“We will bring more shops and outlets in tax net and medical examination of the workers,” he promised.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2015

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