CITY HALL has placed a greater emphasis on the cleanliness of toilets at eateries around the State Capital, with about 27 per cent of the premises checked by its Food Safety and Quality (FSQ) personnel in the first quarter of the year earning four stars for their sanitary facilities.
A spokeswoman for the agency’s Environmental Health Department said a 16-strong FSQ team inspected 406 outlets between January and April.
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She said the checks were carried out in stages as part of an endeavour to grade the toilets for food premises around Kota Kinabalu, Tanjung Aru, Sembulan, Kepayan, Lido, Lintas, Kolombong, Likas, Inanam, Manggatal and Telipok.
“A hundred and twelve eateries were given a grade of ‘four stars’,” she said, “while another 117 received a grade of ‘three-stars’.”
She said 30 premises, or 7.3 per cent, were awarded the coveted grade of “five stars” for their sanitary facilities.
On the lower end of the scale, the spokeswoman said 74 earned a grade of “two stars”, 43 were given a “one star”-grade and 30 had to bask in the shame of not receiving any stars.
She said FSQ staff spoke to eatery operators and their employees, providing them with pointers on how they could improve the cleanliness of the toilets at their respective properties.
The workers at these premises were encouraged to be more active when it came to maintaining the toilets in their shops, according to her.
“We called on them to be more diligent in keeping the floor dry throughout the day – as well as ensuring that the bowls were properly flushed and not left in a state which would turn off new users.”
The spokeswoman said notices were issued to the operators of eateries which received a grade of “three stars” or less.
“They were given a grace-period to try and improve the condition of the toilets at their premises. A follow-up inspection will be carried out after this. Should we find that our advice has fallen on deaf ears, then further action will be taken.”
Since 2014, City Hall has been using the Federal Ministry of Housing and Local Government’s “Star Rating (SR)” system when assessing the cleanliness of toilets at commercial properties within its rating area.
Premises owners are awarded marks for fulfilling the criteria set out in six separate categories as part of the SR score sheet.
Under the SR system, a grade of five stars – between 91-100 per cent of the total score – indicates that the toilets are “amat bersih (extremely clean)”, while zero stars – 50 per cent or below – indicates that these facilities are “kotor (dirty)”.
The spokeswoman hoped eatery operators would, at least, consistently attain 81-90 per cent of the score.
“This will allow them to achieve the ‘four stars’ which shows that their toilets are ‘bersih (clean)’, ‘menawan (appealing)’ and ‘wangi (fragrant)’.”
The spokeswoman said the agency had updated the conditions of the licences for food premises to include the cleanliness of toilets and provisions for pest control at eateries around the State Capital.
“Operators must achieve a grade of at least ‘four stars’ for the condition of their toilets and a minimum of 60 per cent under the Ministry’s FPGS [Food Premises Grading System] for condition of their premises.”
“On top of this, extermination exercises should be performed at least once every six months and no traces of rodents, be they rats, cockroaches or flies, should be evident inside these outlets.”
Under the FPGS, an “A” – between 100-86 per cent of the total score – indicates that the premises is “amat bersih (extremely clean)”, while a “D” – 50 per cent or below – indicates that it is “tidak bersih (unclean)”.
“Eateries, which earn between 85-71 per cent, are considered ‘bersih (clean)’, per the Ministry’s guidelines,” the spokeswoman said.
She called on food operators to pull up their socks when it came to the cleanliness of their eateries and the safety of the meals they served.
