Food Safety and Quality Authority has temporarily closed Brikama fish market over unhygienic conditions amid a heap of complaints by vendors within the market.

Mamodou Bah, director general of the Food Safety and Quality Authority (FSQA), said: “the exercise came on the heels of the prevailing bad sanitation at the facility, which poses high risk of food contamination to food products, handlers and consumers. This grossly violates section 37(1) of the Food Safety and Quality Authority Act 2011.”

“My office was moving to protect the well-being of the vendors and consumers of the Brikama market. 

“The rainy season is fast approaching and Food Safety and Quality Authoriy is using its mandate to ensure that people do not consume foods that are detrimental to their health. 

“If you look around all you see is poor waste management, poor hygienic conditions among others, and these are a serious health hazard,” he added.

According to him during a meeting with the vendors, he advised them to cooperate with the exercise because it is done in their interest.

He said that to avoid loss of income for the women vendors, he has assigned a team to reopen the next day (Wednesday, 1 June) and sell for seven hours whilst a temporal site is being worked out for them until the sanitary conditions at the market improves.

“With several approaches of cleansing exercise and sucking of water from the drainage system in the at the Brikama fish market vendors have been through a lot of health implications case by the smell and dirty water which continues remain in the Brikama market for more than 10 years now.  

“The cause of the unhygienic stagnant water in Brikama market is alleged to be cause by the water that comes from the market fish plant,” he said.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba