“We neither have adequate human resources nor vehicles to travel,” Jeevan Prabha Lama, director general of DFTQC, said. “I´m tired of requesting the Ministry of Commerce and Supply (MoCS). I have even approached the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and requested for funds to buy a vehicle.” [break]
This, however, does not mean the department does not own any vehicle. Currently it has three cars but these vehicles can only be used by three first-class officers. "They were provided by the World Bank through one of the projects called Project for Agriculture Commercialization and Trade," Lama informed. "It had also provided 10 motorcycles, which are currently being used by four food quarantine offices and five regional offices."
The department has set up five regional offices to inspect food quality all over the country. These offices employ only 37 food inspectors. But the department has not been able to mobilize these human resources in an effective manner due to lack of vehicles.
"We need at least one vehicle in every office," Lama said.
Another perennial problem at the department is shortage of human resources. The department, in its progress report of the second quarter of 2011/12 released on Thursday, cited this as one of the reasons for not being able to conduct inspections in all the districts of the country.
“The main challenge for us now is to reach the rural areas, as sales of unhygienic and sub-standard food products are increasing every other day in these places,” Lama said.
The department, in the last two quarters, conducted 43 market inspections -- most of them in urban areas. "During these trips, the department collected 121 samples from the market, of which 26 food products were either seized or destroyed," the report says. "The department also terminated production of six food items."
The laboratories at regional offices also lack proper infrastructure to conduct tests in a proper manner. “Proper infrastructure for accreditation are not in place due to lack of resources,” the progress report states. “The labs are also short of necessary equipment.”
Despite failed attempts to get vehicles and additional human resources, the department is once again planning to request for 15 more technical staff and at least one vehicle for each office.
Related story
Eating junk food is bad for health!
