Pics by
Chandana Wijesinghe and Ravindra Dharmathilake
Patrons choke as the cafeteria business suffers sans standard regulations
Two men were putting up a large mesh covering the back entrance and the hall, equipped with firewood cookers. “This is for the troublesome crows. They try to snatch food while we cook,” one of the men explained. The hall, quite dark and foul smelling, had a cement floor, and was dusty and cracked. Some withered vegetables, apparently days old, lay on a concrete slab in a corner. Kneaded Rotti dough sat in a fly-infested corner waiting to be used.
Such was the condition of one of Colombo University canteens, where thousands of students buy food daily. It didn’t look as bad or unclean from the hall where students dined. In fact it was different from the scene behind the cashier. A representative from the All Island Association of Canteens, Asela Sampath explained to The Nation about their woes.
According to him most canteens in government institutions are in a dilapidated state due to the lack of regulations in the system as a whole. “Ministries are recruiting canteen staff on Tender Basis. Parties are not considered for experience, quality of work or number of employees. It is where the problem begins,” said Sampath. He informed that the All Island Association of Canteens was formed with the intention of coordinating with authorities to solve these problems.
When applying for a school or university canteen, a canteen owner must place a bid where the minimum amount per customer is 15 cents. The canteen has to make a monthly payment to the relevant institute, proportionate to the number of students. Sampath informed that some canteens pay over Rs 600,000 to schools, monthly. Some times they place their bid below the minimum limit so they can get the contract, not knowing it would get them into trouble,” Sampath explained.
One of the employees of the Colombo University canteen, apparently one with a certain amount of authority, was preparing lunch packets while also busying himself shouting commands at others. He was serving rice onto a lunch sheet on a plastic plate. Once he finished serving rice onto all the plates he left the plates uncovered. He returned after few minutes and added some curries onto the plates and went missing again. He returned with a pot full of eggs and started cutting them in half. He used his bare palm as the cutting board and ungracefully dumped the halves in different plates.
“That is the way he prepares lunch packets everyday. He takes his own sweet time, without any worrying about the dust or flies,” Sampath complained. “There are some places much worse than this, dirty and rodent infested. You wouldn’t even think of going near a canteen in a government institution if you saw one of those kitchens,” he lamented. “Cleanliness of the kitchen and food hygiene should always be maintained. All this could be solved if there was a designated responsible authority,” he added as an afterthought.
Colombo National Hospital, Out Patient Department Canteen seemed to be in much better condition. There was enough lighting and cleanliness was maintained, except that pieces of food were strewn about on the floor. A boy shuffled from table to table cleaning them as customers left. It was extremely crowded and the heat was unbearable. “It should be better ventilated and the ceiling should ideally be higher. According to canteen standards, there must be a gap of at least 10 feet between floor and ceiling,” Sampath pointed out.
One of the visitors who came to see a patient, a middle-aged woman, was having lunch at a table near the entrance. She had to wipe off the sweat from time to time while she was having lunch. When asked about the condition of the canteen, she confessed that food hygiene and taste never crossed her mind as she was worried about the patient. “I think everyone here is like that. I have actually never thought of how the food was being made,” she said.
Heading to a well-known Boy’s school in Colombo, Asela Sampath drew our attention to the consumption of bakery products in local schools. “Most children settle for a Chinese roll or a fish bun as breakfast. What nutrition can you get from a fish bun?” he questioned.
The canteen of this particular school purchases all the food items from a bakery in the area. One of the employees of this school canteen, 70-year-old Ariyawimala, said that he has been running school canteens for over two decades. According to him students are not eager to buy anything other than bakery products and flavored sweets. “We have tried to sell boiled Chick peas, Cowpea and green gram. But children aren’t interested in buying them and they find it easy to buy a bun or a small snack since they can have it on the go,” he confessed. “They cannot sneak into the lunch box, when the teacher is in the classroom, if they have Kadala or Mungata.” he laughed.
“Getting students used to local food is the best thing we can do for them. We cannot do that alone, we need help. A glass of fresh milk or Kola Kanda would make a huge difference,” said Sampath. “Why would anyone want to make students consume artificial flavors and colors, when we have the best food in the region?” he lamented. He reiterated that highly nutritious local food varieties are being neglected. “Why can’t we promote local fruits, sweets and rice based snacks such as Aggala or Lavaria in schools? It will also help the local farmers instead of American traders,” he pointed out.
He also pointed out that it is not easy for canteen owners and employees to maintain canteens since they are not given any concessions. “We don’t have a pension, so we won’t be able to make a living when we grow old. Our jobs are not stable. We only get to run a canteen on a tender basis, so it is temporary. We cannot even apply for a bank loan,” he sighed. “Yet the relevant government institution which we run the canteen for earns considerable profit from the canteens,” he added.“All these issues can be solved if there is a regulatory body. Authorities should not disregard this matter as a minor problem,” he reiterated.
Published on September 16, 2012 in The Nation newspaper
Link: http://www.nation.lk/edition/fine/item/10382-tender-call-from-canteen-workers.html
Two men were putting up a large mesh covering the back entrance and the hall, equipped with firewood cookers. “This is for the troublesome crows. They try to snatch food while we cook,” one of the men explained. The hall, quite dark and foul smelling, had a cement floor, and was dusty and cracked. Some withered vegetables, apparently days old, lay on a concrete slab in a corner. Kneaded Rotti dough sat in a fly-infested corner waiting to be used.
Such was the condition of one of Colombo University canteens, where thousands of students buy food daily. It didn’t look as bad or unclean from the hall where students dined. In fact it was different from the scene behind the cashier. A representative from the All Island Association of Canteens, Asela Sampath explained to The Nation about their woes.
According to him most canteens in government institutions are in a dilapidated state due to the lack of regulations in the system as a whole. “Ministries are recruiting canteen staff on Tender Basis. Parties are not considered for experience, quality of work or number of employees. It is where the problem begins,” said Sampath. He informed that the All Island Association of Canteens was formed with the intention of coordinating with authorities to solve these problems.
When applying for a school or university canteen, a canteen owner must place a bid where the minimum amount per customer is 15 cents. The canteen has to make a monthly payment to the relevant institute, proportionate to the number of students. Sampath informed that some canteens pay over Rs 600,000 to schools, monthly. Some times they place their bid below the minimum limit so they can get the contract, not knowing it would get them into trouble,” Sampath explained.
One of the employees of the Colombo University canteen, apparently one with a certain amount of authority, was preparing lunch packets while also busying himself shouting commands at others. He was serving rice onto a lunch sheet on a plastic plate. Once he finished serving rice onto all the plates he left the plates uncovered. He returned after few minutes and added some curries onto the plates and went missing again. He returned with a pot full of eggs and started cutting them in half. He used his bare palm as the cutting board and ungracefully dumped the halves in different plates.
“That is the way he prepares lunch packets everyday. He takes his own sweet time, without any worrying about the dust or flies,” Sampath complained. “There are some places much worse than this, dirty and rodent infested. You wouldn’t even think of going near a canteen in a government institution if you saw one of those kitchens,” he lamented. “Cleanliness of the kitchen and food hygiene should always be maintained. All this could be solved if there was a designated responsible authority,” he added as an afterthought.
Colombo National Hospital, Out Patient Department Canteen seemed to be in much better condition. There was enough lighting and cleanliness was maintained, except that pieces of food were strewn about on the floor. A boy shuffled from table to table cleaning them as customers left. It was extremely crowded and the heat was unbearable. “It should be better ventilated and the ceiling should ideally be higher. According to canteen standards, there must be a gap of at least 10 feet between floor and ceiling,” Sampath pointed out.
One of the visitors who came to see a patient, a middle-aged woman, was having lunch at a table near the entrance. She had to wipe off the sweat from time to time while she was having lunch. When asked about the condition of the canteen, she confessed that food hygiene and taste never crossed her mind as she was worried about the patient. “I think everyone here is like that. I have actually never thought of how the food was being made,” she said.
Heading to a well-known Boy’s school in Colombo, Asela Sampath drew our attention to the consumption of bakery products in local schools. “Most children settle for a Chinese roll or a fish bun as breakfast. What nutrition can you get from a fish bun?” he questioned.
The canteen of this particular school purchases all the food items from a bakery in the area. One of the employees of this school canteen, 70-year-old Ariyawimala, said that he has been running school canteens for over two decades. According to him students are not eager to buy anything other than bakery products and flavored sweets. “We have tried to sell boiled Chick peas, Cowpea and green gram. But children aren’t interested in buying them and they find it easy to buy a bun or a small snack since they can have it on the go,” he confessed. “They cannot sneak into the lunch box, when the teacher is in the classroom, if they have Kadala or Mungata.” he laughed.
“Getting students used to local food is the best thing we can do for them. We cannot do that alone, we need help. A glass of fresh milk or Kola Kanda would make a huge difference,” said Sampath. “Why would anyone want to make students consume artificial flavors and colors, when we have the best food in the region?” he lamented. He reiterated that highly nutritious local food varieties are being neglected. “Why can’t we promote local fruits, sweets and rice based snacks such as Aggala or Lavaria in schools? It will also help the local farmers instead of American traders,” he pointed out.
He also pointed out that it is not easy for canteen owners and employees to maintain canteens since they are not given any concessions. “We don’t have a pension, so we won’t be able to make a living when we grow old. Our jobs are not stable. We only get to run a canteen on a tender basis, so it is temporary. We cannot even apply for a bank loan,” he sighed. “Yet the relevant government institution which we run the canteen for earns considerable profit from the canteens,” he added.“All these issues can be solved if there is a regulatory body. Authorities should not disregard this matter as a minor problem,” he reiterated.
Published on September 16, 2012 in The Nation newspaper
Link: http://www.nation.lk/edition/fine/item/10382-tender-call-from-canteen-workers.html
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