Retired chief environmental health officer Tyrone Applewhaite is “disappointed and disturbed” at how the Liquidation Centre was allowed to get to the state it is in.
During a food safety event by the Barbados Association of Retired Environmental Health Officers on Thursday in Jubilee Gardens, The City, the former senior health official said the Safety and Health at Work (SHaW) Act must be adhered to.
“I think there needs to be more rigorous enforcement of the SHaW Act. If it was, a lot of these issues you hear about in these establishments would not be, but you need sufficient resources, manpower and technical ability, to enforce it,” he said.
Government recently compulsorily acquired the Mirchandani-owned Liquidation Centre in Bay Street, The City, in order to make room for the upcoming Hyatt Hotel. Upon inspecting the warehouse, it was declared a fire and health hazard.
Applewhaite said he had encountered similar cases in the past but there was legislation which should have been put into play so this latest incident never should have occurred. (CA)
