Council urged to regulate industrial area eateries

SANFROSSA MANYINDA writes

Lusaka City Council has been urged to regulate restaurants being operated in the city’s industrial areas to ensure that they observe high hygiene standards.
The people charged that some eating places operating in the industrial area, were unhygienic and risked exposing customers to pollutants coming from the nearby manufacturing industries.
One resident, Miyoba Ng’andu, told the Sun that the Department of Public Health should conduct a regular inspection of the restaurants operating in the industrial area to ensure they observed good hygiene standards.
Mr. Ng’andu said that most restaurants operating in the industrial area lacked toilets and running water for their workers and customers and were therefore a health risk to the people.
“Most of them operate from temporal structures which are also used as drinking places in the evenings and the customers urinate just alongside the structures because there are no toilets in place,” he said.
“It is sad that people have continued to operate these restaurants disregarding the council regulations. They know very well that they are operating illegal businesses but because no one checks on them, they don’t care,” Mr Ngandu said.
He said that it was unfair for people to be subjected to eating food that may endanger their lives stressing that it was wrong for people to take advantage of others’ ignorance.
Another resident, Doreen Lungu, said that the council officers should frequent the industrial area and take to task people operating illegally.
“People should also stop supporting such illegal and unhealthy operations by buying from them because they are a potential health risk,” she said.