They cook next to garbage bins!

KL - OUR area of focus this week is Damansara Utama. A reader who declined to be named, said a restaurant in Jalan SS21/37 is preparing its food along a filthy back- lane.

The person, who is a regular client there added that although the food was good, the restaurant’s standard of hygiene was deplorable.

“I eat here a lot but it was by chance that I discovered that the restaurant’s backlane is filthy.

“The workers prepare food near several large garbage bins and you can see cooking utensils choking up the lane,” he said.

He added that waste water from a laundry service and smoke from a motorcar workshop near where the food were prepared made things worse.

“Can you imagine eating contaminated food? I don’t know whether this is a coincidence or not but most of the food outlets here are located side-by-side with car workshops.”

He said the local authority should conduct checks from time to time and take the action against those who did not take cleanliness seriously.

To get a better picture of the scenario, seasoned photographer Abdul Rahman Senin was despatched to Jalan SS21/27.

It didn’t take him much effort to locate the filthy backlane which was strewn with rubbish bags and construction debris.

“I saw a few restaurant workers who were wary of my actions. They carried on with their chores as I snapped away with my camera,” said Abdul Rahman.

The matter will be referred to the Petaling Jaya City Council’s health department for further action.

 This article was first published in The Star Online August 25th, 2008