Food safety: Food Authority to operate in Faisalabad from February

PFA expects the Finance Department to release Rs35 million soon for its operations in Faisalabad.

LAHORE:

The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) is to start operations in Faisalabad district from February, according to PFA Director General Asad Islam Mahni.

The authority is currently hiring staff for Faisalabad, Mahni said, after which they would be trained. The provincial government has also granted the PFA permission to expand to Multan, Rawalpindi and Gujranwala, but has not approved the release of the funds necessary for the expansion.

Mahni said that he had nominated focal persons to gather data on the situation in the three districts to prepare for the expansion. The PFA has asked for Rs90 million to start work in Multan, Rawalpindi and Gujranwala. It expects the Finance Department to release Rs35 million soon for its operations in Faisalabad.

Mahni said that the money would be used to rent offices and buy vehicles and other items. It would also cover recurring costs for the first year, mostly in the form of staff salaries. The office would be headed by a deputy district operations officer and include nine food safety officers, 18 assistant food safety officers and nine data entry operators.

One of the focal persons gathering date in the other three districts told The Express Tribune that they were noting down all the eateries and food manufacturing factories there.

He said that the PFA’s experiences in Lahore had shown them what data was essential. He said that there was no deadline for the data collection, but it had been given a high priority.

Mahni estimated that the offices in the other three districts would open in the middle of 2014.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th, 2013.