Substandard food
Recently, the Senate Standing Committee on Communications raised questions about the sale of substandard food items at inflated prices along the Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway. However, most of the replies from the relevant authority failed to explain what is to be done to rectify things. On being asked by a panel member about unhygienic conditions in washrooms and bathrooms on the M-2, an official of the National Highway Authority informed that the use of public washrooms was for free but users of executive washrooms were to pay certain charges. Here one may well ask that since the use of public washrooms was free of charge, the unhygienic conditions there merit the kind of attention they were getting.
Replying to a question pertaining to the sale of food items at higher rates, the NHA official said it was the job of the district administration to prevent profiteering, because the NHA was not authorised to inspect the quality of food under the contract. This raises the question who is the weaker party to the contract. Usually, it is understood that under contract laws, the parties to a contract have the same rights, but in practice one of the parties is weaker than the other. The official told the Senate committee that they had stuck bills carrying contact numbers of the food quality inspection officials with whom complaints in this regard could be lodged. On the day of the hearing, there were reports that five members of a family fainted and later suffered from indigestion in Lahore after they consumed food at a street vendor’s.
The Punjab Food Authority gained a good reputation for its endeavours to ensure the sale of safe foodstuffs, but now something seems to have gone wrong. As for the sale of substandard food along the M-2, the official’s statement raises questions about jurisdiction and about the implementation of the law. This leads to the usual question: whose job is it to do the needful?
Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2021.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.