KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) president Muffasar Atta Malik has lashed out at the provincial government for limiting the scope of the newly announced Sindh Food Authority to the provincial metropolis only.
He said it appeared the authority had been set up in haste, and it might create problems for businesses and the industrial community.
Referring to a press conference addressed earlier in the day by Food Minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, the KCCI president stated that SFA’s Board of Governors was headed by the minister himself, its other members mostly included bureaucrats, while there was provision for just one representative of the chamber.
“SFA’s board should be more balanced. There should be better representation of the business community, which could make it into a more vibrant regulatory authority,” he maintained.
The KCCI president said the chamber was not opposed to the establishment of the authority because it realized that safe, hygienic and healthy food is the basic right of every citizen, and its provision must be ensured at all cost, but it was highly unfair to limit the authority’s operations to Karachi only.
“From the very beginning, SFA should have covered every nook and corner of Sindh because the food health and hygiene conditions in other cities, towns and villages across Sindh are way too miserable as compared to Karachi city,” he said.
Commenting on tasks given to the SFA inspectors who will be authorised to inspect hotels and restaurants, food markets, departmental stores, food industries, bakeries, dairy and meat shops, bottled water companies and other such food-related outlets and industrial units, the KCCI president stressed that strict standard operating procedures (SOPs) needed to be defined for these inspectors and the same must be widely publicised with a view to raise awareness and to ensure that no businesses were being harassed by any SFA inspector. “SFA operations have to be made fully automated and transparent with online access in order to discourage bribery and minimise the hardships likely to be faced by businessmen and industrialists,” he added.
He further suggested that massive awareness campaigns through seminars and advertisements have to be carried out about the quality and standard of food items and the Authority should refrain from taking immediate punitive action till such time when people are fully aware about the compliance standards. Afterwards, if SFA finds any food item unfit for human consumption, it should initially give a specific deadline and failure to comply after the deadline should lead to punitive action.
Muffasar Malik stressed that kickbacks must be discouraged at all costs whereas the relevant laws have to be defined for strict punishment and penal action not only in case an item provided by any businessman is found unfit for human consumption but also in case an SFA inspector attempts to take advantage of the situation by harassing someone to seek bribe. “The aim should be to improve and effectively regulate the food sector, not to open new avenues for corruption”, he added.
Published in Daily Times, March 28th 2018.
