Crackdown continues: Eateries, hotel fined

ISLAMABAD:

The city administration on Friday continued a crackdown against restaurant owners for providing unhygienic food to the public.

Assistant Commissioner (City) Kamran Cheema conducted raids in different markers and sealed Kabul Restaurant, Hill View Hotel, American Steak House and Super Ice Cream in Sector F-7, along with a Chinese restaurant.

The official also conducted raids at Centaurus Shopping Mall and fined KFC Rs30,000, Pizza Hut Rs0.1 million, Roasters Rs50,000 and MJ’s Coffee House and Bakery Rs50,000 over unhygienic conditions.

Read: Substandard food: Crackdown reaches Islamabad

Ayesha Mumtaz – the iron lady of the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) as dubbed by the national media – has brought with her to the federal capital a phenomenon currently making waves in the provincial capital, Lahore, which is crackdowns, fines, arrests and closures of outlets serving unhygienic food to the public.

In Islamabad, September 9 was a day of dramatic developments as teams of the city administration one after another raided, sealed and fined some 51 famous eateries across the city, besides arresting 37 food adulterators and sealing 17 outlets.

Though, Mumtaz did not personally participate in the operation, around seven food inspection teams headed by different assistant commissioners of the ICT Administration motivated by her, completed the task “without fear or favour”, said Abdus Sattar Esani, additional deputy commissioner Islamabad, who was overall in charge of the operation.

From high-end cafés and restaurants to roadside hotels; food processing factories to twin cities’ most popular Savour Foods and Chaaye Khana, the food businesses faced penalties ranging from serving mere notices to arresting owners.

Read: ‘Eateries selling poor quality food beware’

Inspection teams collectively imposed fines amounting to Rs144,000 during surprise raids across the capital.

Seventeen First Information Reports have been lodged with respective police stations, while 37 people including owners of some food businesses were arrested during the first day of campaign titled “Anti-Adulteration Campaign in the ICT”.

Restaurants, cafés, hotels and bakeries which were fined or sealed include Chaaye Khana, Habibi Restaurant, KFC, Jamil Sweets, Orient at F-10, Roasters, House of Bombay, Savour Foods, Rahat Bakers, Best Western Hotel, Hot and Spicy at Bahria Town, Café Oxygen, Gujranwala Restaurant F-10, Karachi Nihari F-8, Food Garage F-8, Sheesha and Smoke Villa Bahria Town, Ashraf Bakery, Zeeshan Bakery, and Chaudhary Bakery among others.

Three food processing factories were also sealed.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2015.