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Momodou
Denmark
11790 Posts |
 Posted - 19 Apr 2007 : 13:39:33
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FLOUR IN THE MARKET UNDER INVESTIGATION
By Amie Sanneh
Reports reaching Foroyaa have it that a private owned business company (name withheld) in the country has distributed flour in the market which is said to be unfit for human consumption.
The report stated that the said company imported a consignment of 15,000 bags of flour into the country and so far 10,000 bags are already out in the market.
According to the report the flour is said to be caking and infested with beetles.
When the health authorities were contacted, the head of Food Hygiene and Safety Unit, Momodou Lamin Nget, described the report as baseless.
He confirmed the 15,000 bags of flour imported in the country from the said company but said no single bag is out in the market. It is apparent from a letter that some bags were in the market.
"As far as this office is concerned the story is unfounded," he remarked.
Mr. Nget explained that due to the way bags of flour are being packed, those at the base are bound to be caked or mouldy.
He said the issue of the flour has been going on since November 2006 and that was the time the said company wrote a letter to the Permanent Secretary of Health for the Inspection of the flour.
Mr. Nget added that that was the time they assigned three officers to go to the warehouse of the said company and inspect the flour. "The flour is not yet distributed, it is being supervised by our officers at the warehouse," he noted.
Mr. Nget pointed out that this exercise is ongoing and the officers are trying to separate the good ones from the bad ones, if there is any. "The good ones will be distributed and the bad ones will be destroyed," he said. Our source indicated that this process is wrong.
Mr. Nget posited that samples of the flour have been collected already to be taken to the laboratory.
"My officers are ensuring that any food to be distributed to the people is fit for human consumption," Mr. Nget remarked.
When the said company was contacted to confirm the story, an insider described the story as untrue. He said their company has been here for years and has never had any such problem. "We will not jeopardize our company," he said.
The flour, he noted, is not yet out in the market and is being supervised by health authorities to identify the good flour from the bad ones.
"We can't sell anything. Its all under health, nobody can touch it, health will check and see if its good or not before it can be sold," he remarked.
The Police Spokesperson ASP Famara Jobarteh was contacted as the case has also reached the Police.
PRO Jobarteh told this reporter in a telephone call that his people are investigating the case and cannot give any information to journalists until when they are through with their investigation.
Source: Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
Issue No. 44/2007, 18 - 19 April 2007
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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