The Director in charge of the FCT Public Health Department, Dr Josephine Okechukwu, has said that the department was out to set good hygiene standards for food vendors in the territory to ensure that the food they served were wholesome and safe for human consumption.
The Director told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in an interview on Friday in Abuja, that the department was established to ensure the good health of members of the public and that it was an integrated and comprehensive service that must not be compromised to avoid incidence of diseases.
“So, the onus is on us that whatever the populace of the FCT are getting from food vendors must be standard, we are talking about health here and you know the implications of not eating good food.
“For food handlers in the FCT, we don’t regulate their activities, but we regulate the disasters their food might want to create.
“If we do not regulate the activities of these food outlets, we are going to face another disaster, as we are already battling with COVID-19,” she said.
She said that the department was also making sure that food vendors, their workers and kitchen staff, undergo mandatory tests for any form of diseases that could be transmitted through food as part of the certification process of their businesses.
Okechukwu added that the department was always having meetings with the vendors, including members of the the Hotel Owners Forum Abuja (HOFA), to discuss issues of interest and that any revenues that accrued from the activities of the department were not retained, but paid into the FST TSA account.
The director also disclosed that the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) was, however, responsible for prosecuting any defaulter that violates the rules and regulations set out by the department (NAN)
