KEEP IT CLEAN: Miri City Council will launch Ops Bersih next month to ensure all food outlets are in tip-top condition.
Mayor Lawrence Lai
MIRI: Eatery outlets here have been reminded to maintain a high standard of cleanliness and hygiene, especially in the kitchen, toilets and backlane, or risk being closed down.
Miri City Council (MCC) will be launching ‘Ops Bersih’ next month in collaboration with the Health Department to raise the standard of cleanliness and hygiene in eatery outlets in order to create a healthy living environment.
Mayor Lawrence Lai told the Borneo Post Adventure Team (BAT) recently that this would be their first full-scale operation to ensure all food outlets in the city are of ‘A’ grade.
“Coffeeshops, restaurants, and cafes should maintain a high level of cleanliness and hygiene at all times.
“Officers will carry out an overall inspection and assessment to grade the eateries,” said Lai, adding that kitchens and toilets were among the most important areas to focus attention on.
He said no matter how tasty the food, customers would be disgusted with dirty kitchens or filthy toilets.
‘Both these areas must be equally clean and sanitised.”
Lai said `Ops Bersih’ would also home in on the backlane following many complaints received.
“We want our citizens to live in a healthy environment. That’s the purpose of beefing up efforts in our various programmes and activities to emphasize embracing a green culture.”
Lai said notices and guidelines would be issued to all eateries beforehand as a reminder for owners to keep their places spick and span before the operation started.
In assessing the outlets, Lai said the marking system might be tweaked slightly to remove unnecessary criteria.
“There’s no need for complicated procedures. We just want all the important areas marked without compromising the rules and regulations.”
Lai said MCC’s commitment in turning this resort city into one of the cleanest in the state would continue with more programmes in the pipeline.