Hawkers in Penang are rushing to register themselves for a food-handling course for fear of being fined or jailed after the Jan 23 deadline to obtain a certificate.

Unaware that this is a Health Ministry directive under the 2009 Food Hygiene Regulations, many are blaming the Penang government and local councils for imposing the requirement.

Hawkers are liable to a maximum fine of RM10,000 or a maximum jail term of two years, or both, if they fail to obtain the certificate on time.

Penang Municipal Councillor (MPPP) Ong Ah Teong has been receiving complaints from hawkers who are angry with the council, state government and DAP.

"I am here to say this is being enforced by the Health Ministry,” he told a press conference today.

"We do not support it as hawkers are being charged RM50 for a simple food-handling course, which we in the council conduct free of charge.”

However, the MPPP and Seberang Perai Municipal Council do charge RM20 for anti-typhoid injections.

Ong also questioned why the ministry has outsourced the training to training schools, instead of conducting the courses itself.

He said the money goes to the private companies involved, not to the ministry or the government.

"Who are (the people) behind these companies? What is the agenda in allowing them to do this, when the ministry has the expertise to ensure proper training is carried out?" Ong asked.

"This directive is being enforced nationwide. If five percent of the 29 million citizens take the course, the private companies would earn some RM72.5 million.”

Ong said the two local councils had appealed to the ministry to allow the hawkers to obtain training and certificates from them, but to no effect.

Only six schools endorsed

The situation comes in the wake of complaints about food-training imposters duping hawkers into paying them a fee, while they issue certificates without conducting courses.

Dr Afif Bahardin (left), the executive councillor for health, had warned that the state government had received reports of companies masquerading as trainers although they are reportedly not qualified to issue certificates.

He said the state government is monitoring the situation and gathering more information, adding such incidents "undermine" the image of both the ministry and Penang government.

The ministry has endorsed six training schools to run the courses: Pearl Garden Enterprise; Pusat Latihan dan Perundingan Wasin; Sihat Utama Enterprise; CSL Training and Consultancy; SQC Management (Pg) Sdn Bhd and Institusi Pengendali Makanan Ilham.

Health enforcement has been tightened after 9,777 cases of food poisoning were reported in 397 episodes nationwide from January to September last year, according to a Star report.

The report added that, over the past few years, an average of 8,000 food poisoning cases are reported in Malaysia annually - the highest being in 2007 when 14,455 cases were reported.