WELLINGTON RESTAURANTS.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 January 1922, Page 2

WELLINGTON RESTAURANTS.

OLD AND INSANITARY BUILDINGS. PROSECUTIONS TO FOLLOW, By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Jan. 7. Mr. C, J. Parr, Minister of Health, visited city hotels and restaurants and found evidence of active cleaning up, but some kitchens, especially in restaurants, were not wholesome, and required further action. Many eatinghouse keepers are handicapped by the fact that the buildings are old and the constant use of whitewash and disinfectants are necessary. Mr. Parr considered that these places should be licensed and the kitchens kept up-to-date. The worst place seen was where the wall-paper was at least 20 years old and covered with fly-specks. An army of flies was swarming about and settling on the food. On the other hand, one big place visited had the most modern arrangements, assuring that the food was prepared in the best hygienic conditions.

The Minister says he has instructed the Director-General to give immediate attention to requiring local authorities to license eating-houses and impose conditions for the benefit of the public. Those who pay for food are entitled to know that it is wholesome. Apart from plague possibilities this was a matter requiring immediate attention. Mr. Parr was convinced that eatinghouses were not the only places where rats thrive. There were more indications of rats in warehouses dealing largely in paper than in all the places visited where there was food. Tn an official statement the Minister said: “We have all got lax. Wellington is not any worse than Auckland, where practically the same conditions exist. Both the department and local authorities are to blame for the existing conditions.” He was representing to Dr. Valintine that concerted action must be taken right away in cases where the owners neglected to clean up. A blue paper summons was the only cure. There would be a large batch of prosecutions next week.