Yaacob still daydreaming about his “sound” & “robust” system

Yaacob still daydreaming about his “sound” & “robust” system

Despite the fact that Singapore’s worst food poisoning outbreak occurred during his tenure as Minister of Environment, Mr Yaacob Ibrahim was adamant that his “system” was “sound”.

Speaking to reporters at the launch of NEA’s $8 million recycling fund on Wednesday morning, Environment Minister Yaacob Ibrahim said penalising stallowners with a ‘C’ grading or below would be ‘too harsh’.

‘There are about 5,000 hawkers of variant qualities and backgrounds. We must not run away from the fact that the grading system already in place is robust and sound,’ he said. (read article here)

As far as I can remember, the markets and hawker centers 20 years ago are dirtier than the present ones and there was never an incident of somebody dying from food poisoning after consuming food sold there.

There was no grading system and the environment minister then was probably paid only 10% of Minister Yaacob’s present salary.

If the grading system is “robust” and “sound” as alluded by Mr Yaacob, how did this tragedy happen?

Is Mr Yaacob suggesting that there might be external migitating factors contributing to the incident?

Mr Yaacob said a food poisoning outbreak, such as the one which broke out earlier this month at a temporary market in Geylang Serai, could occur as long as there were lapses.

I concur that there were indeed grave lapses in the supervision and maintenance of the temporary market which lies under the purview of the management committee.

No matter how “perfect” the grading system may be, it will not work if the management committee does not perform its duties to ensure regular spring-cleaning and eradication of vermins at the market’s premises.

The verdict is still out on the exact cause of the two victims’ deaths. Though NEA found “lapses of food hygiene” at the Indian rojak stall, they were unable to establish a link to the mass food poisoning.

Could the rats and the chemicals used in to eradicate them a probable cause? So far the the authorities have been surprisingly mute on this possibility.

Assuming that all stalls at the market were graded a “A”, but the premises are poorly maintained and infested with rats, is this acceptable to Mr Yaacob?

What is Mr Yaacob doing to ensure that these management committees do their jobs?

Are there any legislation in place to punish committees which have been negligent and shoddy in their work?

Shouldn’t these temporary markets be graded too so that consumers can make an informed choice whether to patronize them.

The present hygiene grading system is obviously obsolete and ineffective. What exactly does “A”, “B” and “C” mean? Are stalls with a “C” grading of higher risk of food poisoning?

In my humble opinion, Mr Yaacob should replace the grading now with a simple “pass” or “fail”.

Stalls given the “pass” grade by NEA are considered hygienic, clean and safe enough for its food to be consumed.

At the same time, all hawker centers and temporary markets should be graded too to give their respective management committees a greater sense of ownership and responsibility.

They will be held accountable for any lapses in the maintenance of the premises. Fines can be imposed on errant officers and repeated offenders will have their centers closed down.

Everybody has the role to play in ensuring public hygiene to make Singapore a clean, safe and gracious place to live in.

While the public has a duty to practise personal hygiene in public places, the roles supervising and enforcement authorities must not be negated too.

Even after a major crisis of such castastrophic proportion, Mr Yaacob still hasn’t woken up from his deep slumber.

To put it bluntly, if your “system” is so “sound” and “robust”, 2 innocent lives would not be lost!

It’s time to wake up, Mr Yaacob! You have screwed up big time! Stop the “wayang” to pull the wool over Singaporeans, we are not idiots!

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