Inspectors close well known Maputo restaurant after finding ‘a range of threats to public health’ – AIM report

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Inspectors close well known Maputo restaurant after finding ‘a range of threats to public health’ – AIM report

5:55 CAT | 28 Feb 2017

Boa Vida Maputo (File photo) / Cristal is located in a prime area in Maputo

The Mozambican government’s National Inspectorate of Economic Activities (INAE) on Tuesday ordered the closure of the well-known Cristal restaurant, in central Maputo.

An inspection brigade that visited the Cristal found a range of threats to public health, including septic tanks that are clogged up, dirty conditions in the kitchens and staff toilets, pools of foul smelling water, and the corridor leading to the kitchen full of garbage.

The cupboards were also dirty, the workers’ own dining room was in poor condition, and water was seeping through some of the walls. Cats were also present in the restaurant – apparently brought in to hunt rats. The brigade found that none of the restaurant workers possessed the obligatory health card.

The toilets for the clients were clean, and so was the seating area. But the same could not be said for the workers’ toilets, which were in a deplorable condition, with the sanitary ware completely decrepit.

The INAE General Inspector, Maria Freitas, who headed the brigade, told reporters that the seriousness of the problems found left her with no option but to close the restaurant and its adjacent pastry shop.

She stressed that it is completely unacceptable to have pet cats in restaurant kitchens, because of the risk that the food served to clients could be contaminated by cat hairs and even cat urine.

The Cristal is now closed to the public, and it is up to its owner to correct all the problems detected, and then apply to INAE for authorization to reopen.

“We didn’t give them any deadline to correct the anomalies”, said Freitas. “What we did was forbid the restaurant from operating without observing basic hygiene conditions”. The Cristal will be fined, and the size of the fine in such cases depends on the number and seriousness of the problems.

INAE is on an offensive across the country to impose cleanliness and hygiene on establishments such as restaurants and bakeries. Last week INAE inspected 622 establishments and closed down 20 of them.