WESTERN PROVINCE

RUBAVU — As followers of Christ were moving to various churches to commemorate the death of Jesus on Good Friday, Gisenyi sector authorities were busy mounting a health swoop which left several restaurants and bars closed.

According to the Gisenyi sector official in charge of welfare, Brigitte Umulisa, the swoop was meant to provide safe environments for Easter celebrants

"We carried out the inspection to ensure the safety of people during the Easter celebrations. This is a time when many people would seek services from restaurants and bars. This is why we closed down all public places that did not meet the necessary health requirements" said Umulisa.

She said that the inspection team visited toilets, kitchens, and inspected utensils used to serve people as well as washing sinks.

"We need good hygiene to be a culture among our people because this is one of the most visited towns by tourists. We need public places to provide quality services to residents as well as hundreds of tourists who have come to celebrate Easter from Gisenyi," she explained.

She said the inspection will continue to other places to ensure sanitation was maintained in the town. This is the second time restaurants have been closed down over sanitation.

Umulisa advised proprietors of eating joints and bars to take their staff for medical checkups to ensure they are free from airborne diseases such as Tuberculosis, which can easily be transmitted to the customers.

During the crackdown, scores of proprietors were fined for heaping garbage near where their customers ate from.

The fined residents blamed the association responsible for garbage collection for failing to do their work.

"We pay a monthly fee to the association to specifically collect garbage for disposal but it seems they have failed their work. We have for long heaped garbage waiting for their lorry to take it but in most cases they take long to come. Now they have made us incur expenses in fines," Florence Igirimbabazi one of the residents complained.

Ends