Closer monitoring of school vendors needed

Dear Editor,

On Monday, 27th February 2017, about eleven children from the Uitvlugt Secondary School were rushed to the Leonora Cottage Hospital at various periods throughout the day, after the children started experiencing bouts of vomiting. Upon investigation, one vendor was fingered, because the children had purchased eatables from her.

Tests were supposedly conducted on the various items she has for sale, and her home was inspected to determine the conditions under which she prepares the articles for sale at the school. The tests conducted determined that the sour she has for the various types of chips she sells was responsible for the children vomiting, and she was debarred from selling at the school until further notice.

To my knowledge, only her place was inspected after that disaster. Those in authority, who are vested with the responsibility, are supposed to carry out random checks at the places of preparation and selling of eatables, especially where vendors at schools are concerned; because, over the years, many children from various schools have experienced similar unpleasant incidents. Guyana has many people who are being paid to do particular jobs, and only when a disaster strikes do those persons react and attempt to do their jobs.

Editor, I’ve stated in previous letters I have penned that many vendors are not aware of the ingredients in some of the items they are selling (example: pork extract in Jell-O, among other things); nor are they aware of the expiry dates of some of those items; nor do they even consider that the things they prepare for consumption have a limited shelf life. Their principal objective it to make a profit, and they many go ‘the extra mile’ to get more profit whilst saving on expenses. One of the main ways they employ to make the profit they seek is by purchasing items at a cheaper cost; and one main way to achieve this is by ‘purchasing’ items from thieves, mainly junkies, who are in the habit of raiding people’s fruit trees or obtaining their items from dumpsites, roadways etc.

Many vendors do not care, neither do they ask from whence ‘the seller’ has obtained the articles; because those articles are extremely cheap, many vendors would buy them, because the possibility exists that they would make a huge profit.

Many persons plant trees and wait patiently to reap the fruits, only to wake up one morning to see the trees empty. They might not have even had a chance to taste one fruit from the crop. This makes people angry, because “you spend time behind your plants, and you cannot get to reap/taste from it.” That is why when some thieves are caught they are beaten mercilessly, even though many people would say that when a thief has been caught he/she should be taken to the police.

Some police men and women say that thieving is petty crime, and the police have other serious matters to investigate; but when a thief has been caught, the justice meted out might not please the authorities. Many people now resort to their own ways of dealing with thieves; and I’ve heard many saying that they have poisoned the fruits on their trees in order that they might catch the culprit(s) who are stealing their fruits. The main way to poison such fruits is to inject some sort of poison into some of the fruits. Many people also spray some sort of chemicals on their plants to keep pests away; and if someone were to steal those fruits, they wouldn’t know or care about the spray. And whoever purchases those fruits is unaware that they have purchased fruits that have been sprayed or injected with dangerous chemicals.

I’ve seen people boiling sour in aluminum pots, and when the boiling has been completed, they leave the sour in the pots (sometimes open) for days, just reheating same and taking out daily the amount they need. I’ve heard that leaving food in aluminum pots for long periods is dangerous. It’s not dangerous to use aluminum pots, but if you leave food in them for long periods, the situation could be dangerous.

Adults might look at someone’s appearance, or the vending environment, before purchasing something to eat, but school children are not so cautious/observant. Thus, as a parent, I advise my children; but I cannot deter them from what they want, and vendors should give consideration to people’s children’s health and stop the nonsense they are practising.

If a thorough investigation were carried out after any similar incident, I’m quite sure it would be revealed that many vendors purchase items coming mainly from illegal sources. Thus vendors should be more thoroughly monitored; because, for too long, this nonsense has been happening.

Sincerely,

Sahadeo Bates