Strict monitoring of Ramadan bazaars will ensure clean, safe food preparation, says PPj

PUTRAJAYA: The Putrajaya Corporation (PPj) will monitor Ramadan bazaar sites using its task force, daily, to ensure no incident involving hygiene or food safety issues, says its president Datuk Fadlun Mak Ujud.

He said that 700 Ramadan bazaar traders will be given a briefing next week, in terms of preparing food, to ensure that the food is safe for consumption.

“Sometimes traders prepare (food) in the evening, with no specific time that it will be served to consumers. To ensure (cleanliness) we will always monitor, and if it happens we will remind them or stop them from running the business immediately.

“We will make sure that, in terms of the quality of the food preparation, it is all good,” he told the media after officiating the Putrajaya Lake Lantern Festival 2024, here, last night.

On April 15, 2022, a 90-second-long video clip of a customer claiming that she found worms in noodles with cuttlefish which she bought for RM30 at a Ramadan bazaar here went viral on social media.

Following that, PPj issued a warning to the stall operator, who was ordered to close it by the Health Ministry, through its Food Safety and Quality Division.

Fadlun said that this year, PPj will ensure that all Ramadan bazaar traders will no longer use plastic to wrap food, and will instead introduce the use of packaging made from biodegradable materials, in addition to encouraging shoppers to bring their own containers.

Muslims in Malaysia are expected to observe the holy month of Ramadan, beginning on March 12.

When asked about action against traders who give or sell business licences to others, he said that the PPj would immediately revoke the licence if traders were found to be doing so, and it was hoped that such action could be curbed this year, as each trader was given a pass displaying his or her photo.

“We will be able to detect early on as we issue passes with the traders’ photos. We do not issue licences to any association, but to individuals,” he said.

Fadlun said that a total of seven Ramadan bazaar sites were prepared this year, namely three locations in Presint 3; Presint 9; Presint 11; Presint 14 and Presint 16. In Presint 11 the Ramadan bazaar will be managed by the Resident Representative Council (MPP), to give opportunities to Putrajaya residents to do business.

In another development, he said that PPj is conducting a census to obtain the number of unlicensed traders who operate “car boot sales” in the surrounding area, especially in Dataran Putra.

He said that PPj intends to gather these traders and provide them with a food safety briefing, and ask them to take typhoid shots so that the food and drinks sold are safe for consumption, adding that more than 10 traders have been identified thus far.

“If everything goes well, we will prepare a designated site for them to do business, and issue a licence after going through all the processes.

“Thus far, there have been no complaints (on sanitary issues), but if possible they should follow the rules and take injections,” he said. – BK