Over 10,000 establishments inspected by INAE this year

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Over 10,000 establishments inspected by INAE this year

7:33 CAT | 05 Jul 2017

Diário de Moçambique (File photo)

The National Inspectorate of Economic Activities (INAE) carried out inspections of 10,128 Mozambican shops, restaurants and other establishments during the first six months of this year.

INAE spokesperson, Virginia Muianga, told a Maputo press conference on Monday that the situation found in 187 establishments was so bad, that INAE had no option but to close them down, since they were a threat to public health. Of the establishments closed, 56 were restaurants and 46 were bakeries.

Fines were imposed, mostly for offences concerning hygiene and cleanliness, which amount to 21 million meticais (about 344,000 US dollars).

“Not all this money is yet in the state’s coffers”, said Muianga. “We are still collecting it”.

INAE’s latest target is the sale of cooked meals from car boots in downtown Maputo. INAE inspectors, accompanied by the municipal police, had talked with the owners of the food and the vehicles, who were angered to find that their business might be closed down.

Muianga, cited in Tuesday’s issue of the independent daily “O Pais”, accepted that this way of serving meals “is an opportunity to create employment, but hygiene must be guaranteed”.

She said the owners of the cars had told INAE “they cook the food by 10.00 every day, and bring it from various zones into the city under conditions that are not very good. The vehicles that transport the food are not appropriate”.

Nonetheless, work is now under way with the Maputo municipality and the police to draw up by-laws that will regulate the sale of meals from vehicles.

Muianga said INAE has sent inspectors to the border areas to ensure that poultry and eggs do not enter Mozambique from South Africa, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The government has banned the import of poultry products from these countries because they have suffered outbreaks of bird flu.

The government wants to protect Mozambican poultry producers from the impact of this devastating disease. When bird flu infects a poultry farm, it can kill 100 per cent of the birds.

Source: AIM