St James food vendors under scrutiny as municipality rolls out safety initiative

WESTERN BUREAU:

FOOD VENDORS who ply their wares within Montego Bay and the wider St James will be subjected to food safety checks under a programme to be rolled out by the St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC) in June to ensure that all such vendors are equipped with food handlers’ permits.

Montego Bay Deputy Mayor Richard Vernon made the disclosure while making the mayoral announcements at last Thursday’s monthly meeting of the StJMC, as part of a follow-up to reports made in April that only five per cent of food vendors in the parish had permits.

“The StJMC, in collaboration with the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) and the St James Public Health Department, will be embarking on a safe food programme, geared primarily at certifying all food vendors such as hot dog, porridge, soup, jerk chicken, egg sandwich, fried fish, and baked products vendors who operate in the city space and the parish as a whole. This programme is expected to be rolled out by mid-June 2022,” said Vernon.

“All food vendors must be in possession of a valid food handlers’ permit, and in addition, they will have to provide the location of their food preparation in order for the public health team to undertake sanitation checks, and have a garbage or waste disposal arrangement with the NSWMA,” Vernon added.

The announcement is especially critical in light of the health department’s previous revelation that, out of approximately 600 food vendors who operate within St James, only 30 were found to have a valid food handlers’ permits.

By contrast, the health department’s report revealed that 97 per cent of food establishments to include supermarkets, restaurants, and wholesales were duly certified with the appropriate permits.

Vernon noted that food permits are crucial for prevention and the spread of food-borne illnesses.

“It is important for the public to understand the importance of health and sanitation best practices and the dangers of an outbreak of food poisoning or an epidemic in the city, and in the parish by extension. Poor food sanitation practices are widespread because of the need to have a sustained regulatory and enforcement system,” Vernon told the meeting.

The StJMC has made several efforts in the past to get vendors compliant with the authorities’ health and safety regulations, including having them sell in designated sections of Montego Bay, such as the Charles Gordon Market.

ENGAGE VENDORS

Other measures include the St James Health Department’s thrust in 2017 to engage vendors in hygiene and cleanliness training to counter Montego Bay’s perpetual rat infestation problem. The food-safety initiative was held along with a rat-baiting exercise along the Jimmy Cliff Boulevard, then known as Gloucester Avenue, where several food vendors would often sell items such as jerk chicken and soup in the evenings.

Despite the education drive, however, the StJMC still has to contend with reports of food vendors disposing of food waste indiscriminately, which, in turn, creates feeding sites for rodents. As recently as March this year, the municipal corporation received reports that rats were seen running wildly in the vicinity of a popular food establishment in the downtown district.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com