Shocking disclosure

In a shocking disclosure by the CMC it has now come to light that a majority of the kitchen help and extra hands employed in city hotels and eating houses are afflicted with a variety of diseases and ailments. This at a time when more and more hotels and eateries are coming up in an already overcrowded situation exacerbating the risk.

According to the Chief Medical Officer of the CMC Dr Predeep Kariyawasam during a research carried out by his health team it transpired that a large number of hotel employees within the Colombo city limits are victims of hepatitis and tuberculosis. One shudders to think of what other deadly virus careers may have been harboured at these hotels all these years catering to an unsuspecting public.

This news no doubt will be met with consternation by those patronizing these hotels and eateries on a daily basis. Dr Kariyawasam says they had advised hotel owners to take precautions with their hired help and subject them to an immunization program. He says despite giving the hotel owners prior notice to immunize their help only a handful had responded.

Now they are in the process of collecting a list of names of hotel employees who should be subjected to immunization from hepatitis Dr Kariyawasam stated. A food handlers certificate too is to be issued giving hotel employees a clean bill of health.

The Chief Medical Officer goes on to say that nearly 40 percent of hotel employees are infected with hepatitis. We are not aware if these employees are still employed at these eateries until they are being cleared. If not it is his responsibility to ensure they are ejected from these hotels until they are immunized, without further putting the public at risk. Dr Kariyawasam should also ensure that strict guidelines are maintained when recruiting hotel help in the future.

We say these because these hotels and eateries themselves are low budget affairs and naturally cannot afford to be fussy whom they employ so long as cheap labour is found. With the large number of unemployed youth roaming the city living on the edge of poverty hoteliers are guaranteed a steady supply of help who are employed on a hire and fire basis. Needless to say these hotel owners don't go into the niceties of subjecting these recruits to medical tests or are interested in ascertaining their medical history under the circumstances. There is no knowing the extent of the harm done by these 'infected' help by way of passing on their germs into the food served at these hotels partaken by unsuspecting customers. If the number of hotels and eating houses in the city is anything to go by the figure should be extensive.

Without the public knowing, these eateries may have turned out to be the biggest disease producing sources in the city all this time with the health authorities none the wiser. Now that this revelation has been made, tough precautions are called for to ensure the public are not subjected to health risks any further.

While the food handlers certificate to be issued to hotel employees after subjecting them to a laboratory test is a move in the right direction this alone cannot be a foolproof method in the event the subject contracts other diseases which are contagious and can be even deadlier. More so given the sleazy backgrounds from which a majority of these employees originate there is all likelihood of far serious diseases being contracted by them and the virus and contagion spread around.

It is therefore prudent that periodic checks be conducted on these employees for a wide range of diseases. This is vital given their occupation of handling food that is served to the public. Not just the health aspect of employees the CMC should also conduct thorough checks to ensure the health of these hotels themselves. This is because a good majority of them are run in the most unhygienic conditions with some of them operating by the side of drains and sewerage lines.

The kitchen helpers too perform their job in the most unhygienic and unkempt state with most of them barebodied and dripping sweat while they get about their business unconcerned. The hotel owners should be given standard guidelines to be followed. All hotel employees should be required to be attired and periodic raids should be carried out on these eateries to ensure they conform to the guidelines.

Today there is at least a one million floating population in the Colombo city during the day and hotels and eating houses have come up like mushrooms to cater to the demand. In this rush most do not adhere to accepted standards posing health risks to the public. It is time the authorities took a serious view on the threat posed by hotels and eating houses that have now turned out be disease producing factories going by the CMC investigation.