3 more restaurants closed, four arrested

PESHAWAR: The district administration on Monday sealed three more restaurants, including the one owned by a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader and provincial cabinet member, in the provincial metropolis for selling substandard and expired food and not maintaining cleanliness at the kitchens.
He said four persons were also arrested from the eateries.“Today, we raided and sealed three restaurants in Peshawar Cantt. The Hong Kong, Chinese Restaurant on Mall Road was sealed in the afternoon and Four Seasons Fast Food and Jani’s Cone Fast Food on the Arbab Road were sealed in the evening,” Additional Deputy Commission Osama Ahmad Warraich told The News.
He said that four persons were arrested from the restaurants and each of the outlets fined for Rs300, 000. He said that they found expired food stuff from the restaurants and the cleanliness and hygienic condition there was pathetic.
The official said that they found expired ketchup and other items in the restaurants. Also, the owners didn’t take care of the hygienic condition and the cleanliness situation at their kitchens was really pathetic, he added. The district administration recently launched a drive against the hotels, restaurants and other food points and major stores to check the sale of substandard, expired and rotten food items.
The official vowed to continue the drive until the sale and service of substandard food stuff is brought to an end and proper cleanliness is ensured in the food-points. The district administration has so far taken action against some famous stores, hotels and restaurants, which included Pearl Continental, the lone five-star hotel of the city, KFC, Pizza Hut, Tutti Fruiti, Munchies, Jan’s Shopping Arcade, Avon, AtoZ, Hyper Mall and others.
Most of them were sealed with their managers arrested. They were also fined for Rs300,000. They were, however, later allowed to resume operations after getting affidavits from them that they would maintain the standard of food and improve hygienic situation.
Interestingly, all the eateries and stores raided so far are the most costly and they are considered as the best outlets in the city. The additional deputy commissioner said that they would raid and check all the hotels, restaurants and food points of the district and take stern action against everyone for selling substandard items irrespective of any pressure. He pledged to do something big in the near future. “We want to end all the illegal activities in the district. Soon we would launch a drive against spurious medicines,” he declared.
The official said that inspection teams would visit all the medical stores and pharmaceutical companies in the district to check the sale of spurious medicines. The action has already alerted the owners and managers of the food points. But many of them have still failed to maintain the standards.
All of the three sealed on Monday were the famous restaurants. But Jani’s Cone was the most prominent among them, as it is owned by a PTI lawmaker and special assistant to the chief minister.