Where are the Public Health authorities?
published: Thursday | June 17, 2004 THE EDITOR, Sir: I READ with disbelief a recent headline in The Gleaner ‘Rats Attack – Churches New Kingston closes as rodents run amok’. The management of Churches New Kingston stated that “it is not the health authorities that have shut them down, they took the decision themselves, to close their business in an effort to protect the consumers’ health and their image.” If you can recall, this problem has existed for over three years, with no real solution. This leaves me to ponder the role and function of the KSAC and Ministry of Health in these situations. The Ministry of Health’s officers are armed with the authority, under the Public Health Act, to enter and inspect, without notice, any business premises and to order their closure in instances where the health of the public is at risk. We all rely on the Public Health authorities to be pro-active and take decisions in our interest, yet we are seeing that it is being left to business owners to ass
