TAWAU: The grading of food premises have is crucial in efforts to attract more tourists and especially since Tawau is famously known as the State’s “Food Paradise”.
Political Secretary to the Sabah Finance Minister Rina Jainal, said Grade A recognition for premises would instil greater confidence among the public and tourists, as they are guaranteed to be clean.
The grading could also motivate food and beverage operators to continue striving to maintain cleanliness in their premises, which would, in turn, attract more customers.
“The cleanliness of these premises must be prioritised because, many people today have to eat outside due to time constraints and work commitments. We expect food premises to provide clean and healthy food,” she said.
Rina, who is also for Kukusan Assemblywoman, spoke to the media after officiating the 2024 Food Premises Grading Certificate Award Ceremony at Dewan Sri here on Friday. Also present was MPT Public Health Committee Chairman Muhammad Raiyan Fung Abdullah.
At the event, she presented Grade A certificates to 97 food premises in the district as part of this year’s Food Premises Grading Programme.
These premises are among the 280 food premises inspected by the Tawau Municipal Council (MPT) and the Tawau Health Office, divided into four zones.
The four zones involved are Zone 1 (town) with 39 premises awarded Grade A certificates, Zone 2 (Jalan Utara, Semarak, Hotspring), with 11 premises, Zone 3 (Kubota, Hua Dat Industry, Lee Industry) with 33 premises, and No Zone (Balung, Merotai, Airport, Bandar Sri Indah) with 14 premises also rated as Grade A.
Elaborating further, Rina said the objective of grading food premises is to provide a rating and recognition based on their cleanliness level, ensuring that the food provided is safe for consumption.
She added that food premises can become a source of various diseases and severe health issues without proper care. In fact, the Tawau Health Office issued 432 compound fines this year under the 2009 Food Hygiene Regulations.
“The effort to maintain cleanliness is not only the responsibility of the premises’ owners but also the entire community, ensuring that the incidence of food and water-borne diseases and related fatalities can be reduced,” she said.
She also expressed hope that the recipients of the Grade A Certificate award would be motivated to continue maintaining and improving the cleanliness of their premises, which would ultimately become the key to their business success.
