The Lahore Restaurants Association (LRA) has urged the Punjab government to intervene and stop activities of the Punjab Food Authority immediately, following the raids on restaurants in the provincial metropolis and fining or sealing food outlets on various charges. The association has also urged the Punjab chief minister to look into the matter and demanded a high-level enquiry commission to impartially look into the whole situation.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Lahore Press Club Secretary General Ahmad Shafiq accompanied by other members who have claimed that the authority wants to damage the hotel industry, accused tat officers are having no experience or expertise in the food industry, "going beyond their powers". They sarcastically said the food authority's inexperience officers are either sealing restaurants on very minor issues, they just want to become "heroes in the eyes of the public" or demanding personal benefits from the restaurant industry and tarnishing the image of these restaurants by misusing their powers.
Secretary General Shafiq said in a statement, "Food industry experts are on the panel of the Lahore Restaurant Association and believe in providing clean and hygienic food in line with international health rules. The members are ready to play their role in this regard."
But he regretted that neither the food authority was ready to give any standing operation procedures to the restaurants nor they wanted to sit with food experts to improve the procedures.
They also criticised the role of Authority Operations Director Ayesha Mumtaz, claiming that some of her officials were making fuss for their own interest and to win cheap publicity. He has invited the officers to talk to experts and determine standards of cleanliness, inspection procedure and other procedures, after that if any restaurant violate the set standard, it should be fined or sealed and the association would support the authority action.
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