"Water an elemental,
Water a fundamental,
Building block of life..."
Our day started at 8am with the Bekalan Air & Kebersihan Alam Sekitar (BAKAS) unit. After a short briefing by Mr.Rafidy, who is an officer in the BAKAS unit, we started our journey to the site to visit various types of water drainage, sanitary and water management system. Our first destination was Kampung Sg. Mati which is located in a small town called Langgar which is at around 30minutes drive from the DHO. The village was surrounded by vast paddy field which gave us a warm welcome. We visited house by house to invigilate the sewage and sanitation system. We were given sufficient information regarding SPAL and SUMP sewage water disposal system.
Then our journey continued to Kampung Tok Kun which is located 1 hour away from the previous village. In this village, we managed to gain knowledge on water pump and sewage water disposal system. We could appreciate the difference in the system with the previous kampong.
Our third destination was a rubber estate around 10km from the Pokok Sena town. Here we were so lucky to observe the well drilling process for a family who do not have proper water supply as their previous well dried off. During surveillance, the health officers found out this problem so to provide good quality drinking water for the family of five, BAKAS unit of Kota Setar DHO and engineering unit of State Health Department together came out with this well-drilling plan. This house was situated in the middle of a vast rubber estate but government never fails to look after their basic needs. The government officers also were so dedicated and enthusiastic to carry out this
program in midst of all the problems such as poor infrastructure in that area.
In the evening some of the students were in the health promotion unit to gather more information about health promotion in the DHO settting under the guidance of Mr. Mohamad and another group of students went to restaurants to check for food quality and cleanliness of premises with the officers from the food quality control unit.
They went to the stalls with Mr.Musa bin Hasan (PPKP) and another health officer around 3 pm. Food premise inspection was done at 5 stalls. It was a routine inspection that has been done. Each year there will be one inspection for each food premises. Criteria that are taken into account are as following:
· Cleanliness of the stall
· Cleanliness of cooking equipments
· Cleanliness of surrounding area
· Appearance of the hawker (apron, cleanliness, neat)
· Typhoid vaccination taken by all food-handlers
· Cleanliness and quality of food which is served
· Presence of proper dustbin
All food handlers are required to get typhoid vaccination. Food handlers who did not get themselves vaccinated are usually given a letter to ask them to do so. Second inspection will be done after 1 month to know whether they already get themselves vaccinated. As such, during the inspection session today, only one lady was given that letter.
PPKP follows the checklist while inspecting the stalls. Marks were given, if less than 76, the shop need to be closed for 14 days. Thus, in order to be safe, marks shall be more than 76. However, the drainage system for all the stalls was poor. It seems Kota Setar City Council (Majlis Perbandaran Kota Setar-MPKS) does not clear this problem although after several complaints from the food handlers. Also, most of the stalls do not have a proper dustbin or disposal system. The inspection session ended around 5.30 pm.
After a long day, we return back to campus. It was a fruitful day indeed as we learned many things which I doubt whether we would get another opportunity like today to learn.
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