The Auditor-General has, in his report for 2007, found that in some areas, “manpower and training in financial management were lacking, and monitoring and supervision was absent”. The New Sunday Times delved deeper into the A-G’s report and found instances of gross mismanagement either through ineptitude or disregard for rules and regulations.

OFTEN no actions are taken on unhygienic premises and culprits who contravene the Food Regulations go scot-free because the Health Ministry is slow in submitting investigation papers, according to the Auditor-General's report.

Woeful food sampling procedures also led to weak investigative results, causing the ministry to be unable to prosecute offenders in court.

Audit results for the period between 2005 and 2007 found that out of some 183,339 food samples taken for testing, some 69,700 did not follow proper food sampling procedures.

Feedback from district health officials showed that the reason why sampling was not done according to procedures was because of lack of funds to buy samples.
The ministry's yearly random sampling of food sold in the market is also found wanting.

Not only are the food samples not sent for testing on time, the type of samples needed and the type of testing needed to be done are also not met because the health officers did not meet the sampling criteria set.

There are also district health officers who send samples without following what is stipulated in the yearly schedule, resulting in too much samples sent for analysis at times and this has delayed analysis of results.

Audit results on a few districts revealed that food sampling in the east coast district of Penang, Johor Baru in Johor, Samarahan and Kuching in Sarawak, were also not satisfactory.

The A-G said that food sampling should be planned by taking into consideration the population intensity of an area, the food variety there, and the type of content in high-risk foods that can be detrimental to health.

Meanwhile, the ministry is also found to be slow in issuing food alerts to the various food entry points.

The time a food sample is taken for analysis until information that it is found unsafe is sent to the entry points, takes about 12 to 17 days.

The A-G said the long time taken to issue the alerts could result in unsafe foods being brought into the country.

The ministry said the Food Safety and Quality Division had organised a microbiology and chemical sampling course for its officers in Kelantan and Sarawak early this year.

It also said that the sampling sent by all state departments follow what has been laid down in the National Work Plan, which is determined by sample type and analysis parameters.

"Increase in sampling size happens when there's a special operator, plague, enforcement activities and monitoring following a complaint raised by the consumer or a food safety issue that was raised by the media."

It has also updated its Work Procedure Manual and coordinated it with stipulations in the 1983 Food Act and the 1985 Food Regulations in April.

To shorten the time in issuing food alerts, the ministry has also started using emails. A working procedure manual is also being drafted to better manage the food alert system and is expected to be implemented by the end of this year.





The ministry's monitoring and enforcement on the distribution, sale and quality of bottled drinking water and mineral water, has also been found wanting.

The A-G has detected various cases of unlicensed water distributor, brands with wrong labelling or addresses, and labelling and packaging that do not meet specifications.

An audit on licensed water distributors in 13 districts found that some do not follow stipulated rules and regulations, yet no action was taken against them.

Between 2003 and 2007, it was found that some 62 companies failed to send their water analysis to the ministry regularly.

At the same time, 20 companies never bothered to do so after their license was approved.

In 2007, Penang State Health Department found 12 companies were selling bottled water without having obtained the appropriate licences from the ministry.

The department issued warning letters to them and advised them to apply for the necessary licences to continue operation.

However, the A-G found no evidence of any action having been taken against them.

The information on licensed water distributor is also not up to date as the audit found that some distributors have different names or addresses; some are even longer in operation.

A visit to 13 water-processing plants listed on the ministry's website found that six had stopped operations, although they were still listed as active.

In response, the ministry said the six companies had been taken off the list in April and a letter had been issued to all its state health departments to update their lists.





Not only are the food samples not sent for testing on time, the type of samples needed and the type of testing needed to be done are also not met because the health officers did not meet the sampling criteria set.

There are also district health officers who send samples without following what is stipulated in the yearly schedule, resulting in too much samples sent for analysis at times and this has delayed analysis of results.

Audit results on a few districts revealed that food sampling in the east coast district of Penang, Johor Baru in Johor, Samarahan and Kuching in Sarawak, were also not satisfactory.

The A-G said that food sampling should be planned by taking into consideration the population intensity of an area, the food variety there, and the type of content in high-risk foods that can be detrimental to health.

Meanwhile, the ministry is also found to be slow in issuing food alerts to the various food entry points.

The time a food sample is taken for analysis until information that it is found unsafe is sent to the entry points, takes about 12 to 17 days.

The A-G said the long time taken to issue the alerts could result in unsafe foods being brought into the country.

The ministry said the Food Safety and Quality Division had organised a microbiology and chemical sampling course for its officers in Kelantan and Sarawak early this year.

It also said that the sampling sent by all state departments follow what has been laid down in the National Work Plan, which is determined by sample type and analysis parameters.

"Increase in sampling size happens when there's a special operator, plague, enforcement activities and monitoring following a complaint raised by the consumer or a food safety issue that was raised by the media."

It has also updated its Work Procedure Manual and coordinated it with stipulations in the 1983 Food Act and the 1985 Food Regulations in April.

To shorten the time in issuing food alerts, the ministry has also started using emails. A working procedure manual is also being drafted to better manage the food alert system and is expected to be implemented by the end of this year.





The ministry's monitoring and enforcement on the distribution, sale and quality of bottled drinking water and mineral water, has also been found wanting.

The A-G has detected various cases of unlicensed water distributor, brands with wrong labelling or addresses, and labelling and packaging that do not meet specifications.

An audit on licensed water distributors in 13 districts found that some do not follow stipulated rules and regulations, yet no action was taken against them.

Between 2003 and 2007, it was found that some 62 companies failed to send their water analysis to the ministry regularly.

At the same time, 20 companies never bothered to do so after their license was approved.

In 2007, Penang State Health Department found 12 companies were selling bottled water without having obtained the appropriate licences from the ministry.

The department issued warning letters to them and advised them to apply for the necessary licences to continue operation.

However, the A-G found no evidence of any action having been taken against them.

The information on licensed water distributor is also not up to date as the audit found that some distributors have different names or addresses; some are even longer in operation.

A visit to 13 water-processing plants listed on the ministry's website found that six had stopped operations, although they were still listed as active.

In response, the ministry said the six companies had been taken off the list in April and a letter had been issued to all its state health departments to update their lists.