‘Strengthen monitoring to ensure safe food ahead of Ramadan’

The government should strengthen monitoring and deploy mobile courts to ensure safe food ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, speakers at a city workshop concurred yesterday.

The workshop on the “Role of media to ensure safe food” was organised by the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA). It was held at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS).
The BFSA said it will launch awareness programmes on safe food in 64 districts before Ramadan.
Food minister Qamrul Islam, who was the chief guest at the workshop, said the government has taken initiatives to ensure food safety from the production stage to the dining table. “It is a constitutional right of the people to get safe food. We have already arranged food for all and now working to ensure safe food for all,” he added.
The minister said the Sheikh Hasina government has taken various steps to increase food production in the country. “The government is giving incentives to farmers to boost the agricultural sector. Now, the nation is producing around 360 crore tonnes of food annually,” he added.
Qamrul said a section of unscrupulous traders are involved in making the market volatile by creating an artificial crisis. 
“Normally flash floods occur after Boro harvesting in Haor areas, but this year they happened earlier. Taking undue advantage of the situation, some dishonest mill owners and traders created panic about food shortage among the people,” he noted. “We have sufficient stocks of food. The Prime Minister has instructed us to keep the market under control by importing rice, if needed. The market price is now downward,” he added.
The minister assured the gathering: “The government will fulfil its target to collect eight lakh tonnes of rice from the local markets by May 31. We have already signed agreements with traders and mill owners to procure 1.25 lakh tonnes of rice.”
Qamrul said he had also signed an agreement with mill owners for 21,000 tonnes of rice during his recent tour of the northern districts. He criticised a Bengali newspaper for “misrepresenting facts” on the matter. On his part, the PM’s information adviser, Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, claimed that negative news reporting has become a normal practice around the world. “Newspapers should publish both positive and negative activities of the government,” he added.
Taking up the issue of food safety, Chowdhury said, “Normally, low-quality food items are served at Iftar and Sehri during Ramadan. The authorities concerned will ensure the purity of food during the holy month.”
BFSA chairman Mohammad Mahfuzul Haque claimed that manpower shortage was hindering proper enforcement of the Food Safety Act, 2013. “We will soon get the required manpower as the government has approved it,” he added.

Strengthen monitoring to ensure safe food ahead of Ramadan

The government should strengthen monitoring and deploy mobile courts to ensure safe food ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, speakers at a city workshop concurred yesterday. The workshop on the Role of media to ensure safe food was organised by the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA). It was held at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS). The BFSA said it will launch awareness programmes on safe food in 64 districts before Ramadan. Food minister Qamrul Islam, who was the chief guest at the workshop, said the government has taken initiatives to ensure food safety from the production stage to the dining table. It is a constitutional right of the people to get safe food. We have already arranged food for all and now working to ensure safe food for all, he added. The minister said the Sheikh Hasina government has taken various steps to increase food production in the country. The government is giving incentives to farmers to boost the agricultural sector. Now, the nation is producing around 360 crore tonnes of food annually, he added. Qamrul said a section of unscrupulous traders are involved in making the market volatile by creating an artificial crisis. Normally flash floods occur after Boro harvesting in Haor areas, but this year they happened earlier. Taking undue advantage of the situation, some dishonest mill owners and traders created panic about food shortage among the people, he noted. We have sufficient stocks of food. The Prime Minister has instructed us to keep the market under control by importing rice, if needed. The market price is now downward, he added. The minister assured the gathering: The government will fulfil its target to collect eight lakh tonnes of rice from the local markets by May 31. We have already signed agreements with traders and mill owners to procure 1.25 lakh tonnes of rice. Qamrul said he had also signed an agreement with mill owners for 21,000 tonnes of rice during his recent tour of the northern districts. He criticised a Bengali newspaper for misrepresenting facts on the matter. On his part, the PMs information adviser, Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, claimed that negative news reporting has become a normal practice around the world. Newspapers should publish both positive and negative activities of the government, he added. Taking up the issue of food safety, Chowdhury said, Normally, low-quality food items are served at Iftar and Sehri during Ramadan. The authorities concerned will ensure the purity of food during the holy month. BFSA chairman Mohammad Mahfuzul Haque claimed that manpower shortage was hindering proper enforcement of the Food Safety Act, 2013. We will soon get the required manpower as the government has approved it, he added.