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Gibson Mhaka
BULAWAYO city fathers have expressed alarm over the mushrooming of unlicensed food outlets in the city, saying most of these food outlets have poor hygiene standards.
According to the latest council minutes, Ward 2 Councillor Adrian Redani Moyo called on the health services department to engage food outlet owners and improve hygiene standards.
“The Committee (health services) considered the matter and Councillor A.R Moyo raised concern about food outlets in the city. Most of these food outlets had poor hygiene standards. He called on the department to engage food outlet owners and improve hygiene standards.
“Councillor K. Ndlovu (Ward 10, Khalazani Ndlovu) concurred. There were a lot of food outlets mushrooming in the city. Most of them had no relevant permits. She wanted to know what action was taken by the council in such cases,” the minutes read.
Ward 19 Cllr Lazarus Mphadwe called on the council to enforce relevant by-laws to ensure that food outlets in Bulawayo meet minimum hygiene and safety standards.
“Food outlets should be controlled in the city. No food outlet in the city should compromise hygiene standards,” he said.
Ward 17 Cllr Sikhululekile Moyo did not support food sold from car boots and open spaces. She noted that there were a lot of illegal vendors selling cooked food and roasted maize in the Central Business District.
She said an operation should be established to enforce relevant by-laws.
In response, the divisional environmental officer explained that the council had recently recruited Environmental Health Officers.
“A lot of health related by-laws would be enforced. Engagements had been done with food outlet owners regarding adhering to food handling and cleanliness standards,” the environmental officer said.
derick.khumalo