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CITY HALL compounded two food operators for contravening its Food and Eating Premises By-Laws 1966, during a check of some eateries in the central business district of the State Capital earlier this week. 

A spokeswoman for the agency’s Environmental Health Department (EHD) said a penalty of up to RM500 could be imposed in such circumstances.

“One eatery-owner had not installed both the grease-traps in his/ her kitchen according to our specifications, particularly when it came to the T-joint which is supposed to be part of the set-up,” she said.

“The other was not looking after all the traps as he/she should.”

She explained that five grease traps had been installed at this premises, but only three were being cleaned as they should.

These violations came to light during a Grease-trap Operation, which saw a pair of EHD personnel inspecting five food outlets off Jalan Ewan on Wednesday.

The spokeswoman said one food operator was taken to task for running his/ her business without a valid licence.

She said that City Hall’s Licensing Department had been informed of this irregularity.

 “Our Health Officers noted that only one of the four traps at the restaurant had the T-joint required per our By-Laws. Further action will be taken against the operator, once our Licencing peers have dealt with this individual.”

She said the remaining two eateries had three grease traps each, all of which were installed as they should and being cleaned properly.

The spokeswoman stressed that the oily discharge entering grease-traps should be removed daily.

“Don’t hold off cleaning the traps only till it becomes necessary to do so.”

She said it was imperative that the unwanted cooking oil from commercial kitchens was dealt with responsibly.

“Proprietors should also avoid modifying the traps and adhere to our approved specifications.

“A ‘T-joint’ should also be put in place before the outlet from these devices and they should not be connected to the drainage servicing the shops.”

The agency’s action was prompted by feedback from the Sewage Services Department (SSD) about the problems caused by the indiscriminate disposal of fats, oils and grease (FOG) at commercial outlets in this part of Kota Kinabalu. 

A SSD spokeswoman admitted that the agency had been facing an uphill task mitigating the nuisance created by the overflowing manholes on Jalan Ewan.

“We were made to understand that effluent had been seeping through the rectangular manhole covers and soiling the road for some time,” she said.

“The business owner, who highlighted this occurrence to us at the end of February, bemoaned the nuisance posed by the foul smell coming from parts of the walkway which extended for about 300 metres.

“She was of the opinion that those who inhaled the fumes regularly risked falling ill. Worse still, she said the presence of the black liquid pooling in the common area reflected poorly on the level of hygiene practised in the State, especially in the eyes of the many international tourists who frequented this part of the City.”

A preliminary inspection was made of the stretch shortly after the Department learned of this nuisance, according to her.

“Our staff opened the inspection chamber (IC) for the problematic manholes along the road. They found the effluent up to the brim.”

She said bits of congealed FOG were observed to have congealed around the circumference of many of the pipes underneath. 

“We suspect that some parties may be flushing used cooking oil into the sewer-line.”

She said one of the Department’s tankers was subsequently deployed to the area. This vehicle could contain up to 8,000 litres of effluent, according to her.  

“Three of our technicians worked to pump out the waste from the manholes in a bid to offer the public in this part of the City some relief.

She said a follow-up check was made of the manholes on Jalan Ewan four days later.

“The level of effluent was observed to have reached to just below the surface of the rectangular metal covers in this instance.

“Based on the business owner’s feedback, we will try to desludge the pipes here more frequently to help alleviate the sewage issues she and her peers have been facing.”