PESHAWAR: By launching an effective campaign to check encroachments and the quality and prices of eatables in Peshawar, the district administration has rekindled the hopes of citizens and also revived memories of the late magistrates Abdul Baqi and Sarfaraz whose vigilance and activism had earned them tremendous respect among the citizens.

As part of the ongoing drive against sale of expired items and rotten vegetables lying in the kitchens of known restaurants and departmental stores, the district administration continued its raids on Saturday. An official source said that kitchen of the sole five-star hotel in the city was also raided where rotten vegetables were found and the hotel’s manager was arrested.

According to additional assistant commissioner Fawad Khan, several famous restaurants and departmental stores had been checked during the last few days where rotten vegetables, expired food items and other low quality daily use commodities were found and thus action was taken against the managers concerned.

Mr Fawad said that during the campaign many restaurants and departmental stores like KFC, Pizza Hut, Jan Arcade, A to Z, Mega Mart, Hyper Mall, Avon Super Store, Tutti Fruity, Munches, etc had been checked where expired items, including edible and non-edible items, were found.

Action taken against famous restaurants,departmental stores in Peshawar

Similarly, he said that condition of kitchens in several restaurants was not satisfactory.

He said that some of these stores and restaurants were sealed and their managers arrested. He said that heavy fines were also imposed on them.

The official said that the campaign was aimed at sensitising general public to check the expiry date before paying for a product.

“The higher management of these outlets have been summoned and given timeframe to make up for the shortcomings. They have admitted their guilt and committed to rethink and reshape their standard operating procedure,” he said.

Mr Fawad said that a fine of over Rs2 million had been collected during the raids. He said that after the owners’ commitments the sealed outlets were allowed to open. The action, he said, was taken under various laws, including Food Stuff Control Act 1958, Consumers Protection Act 1997, Pure Food Ordinance 1960 and Animal Slaughter Act.

Regarding the hike in rates of meat, the official said that the prices would be revised soon so that exploitation of people at the hands of butchers could be stopped. He said that the prices and quality of other food items, including rice, sweets and milk, was also being checked from time to time.

The prices of meat, he said, were fixed in 2010 which had not been revised till 2015 and thus the butchers started charging consumers at their free will.

“Feedback from general public is encouraging and the drive will continue,” the official said.

Deputy Commissioner, Peshawar, Riaz Mehsud told Dawn that the administration would also launch a drive against plastic bags which had been clogging drains and creating problems for the people.

“We are working on it and would take the stakeholders into confidence before imposing Section 144 on use of the plastic bags,” the DC said and added that an ample time would be given to the people to stop sale of such bags.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2015

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