Authorities mount crackdown on unhygienic restaurants

WESTERN REGION KARONGI — Karongi District leaders and community health officials over the weekend conducted a crackdown on unhygienic hotels and restaurants. In this crackdown over four of such utilities were closed down on the first day of the operation. Those closed include Golf Eden Rock hotel, a renowned regional tourist attraction whose closure stems from a series of previous warnings regarding its alleged poor state of cleanliness within its kitchen. The operation also saw the use of the hotel’s dancing hall suspended due what public officials termed as ‘improper ventilation’ and sub-standard construction standards which couldn’t be rectified despites numerous prior warnings. According to Dative Simbi Mukabalisa, Karongi district Vice Mayor in charge of social affairs explained that two other restaurants in the region were closed down because they were located in a commercial building whose construction was still underway. “The building from which the restaurants operate has no toilets and they carry the food from an external kitchen which puts the lives of the customers at a great risk of consuming contaminated food,” Mukabalisa told The New Times shortly after the crackdown. Flanked by security organs the strict but youthful mayor spoke against lack of professionalism within the hospitality sector and regretted that this compromises public health. “There are some things that we cannot tolerate. For us the public’s health is our priority. It is very unfortunate that some of these restaurants discharge waste water into Lake Kivu,” said Mukabalisa. “We must all work to ensure that efforts to have a clean environment are not frustrated,” Mathide Umuraza, the district’s health and hygiene director observed. The ongoing operation has also closed down a bakery and a local bar which was found to be selling expired products. Ends