The Department of Community Development (Kemas) has acted on reports that one of its kindergartens had exposed its stored food to pests and dangerous chemicals by issuing the officer concerned a show-cause letter.

“Storage of dry food next to chemicals such as paint was due to the negligence of the individual,” said the department’s director-general Abdul Puhat Mat Nayan in a statement sent to Malaysiakini yesterday.

The step taken by Kemas is to ensure that such an incident does not recur, he stressed.

On the disclosure that a Kemas kindergarten in Alor Setar, Kedah, was found to have stored dry food in a toilet, Abdul Puhat said the department had allocated funds to purchase shelves for the proper storage of such food in its kindergartens.

NONE “Not all Kemas kindergartens have storage facilities as some kindergartens are temporarily located or located in buildings (not owned by Kemas),” Abdul Puhat explained.

“Only new buildings are furnished with storage facilities,” he added.

The statement follows the disclosure in the Auditor-General 2010 Report of several examples of poor sanitation at 79 Kemas kindergartens that audit officials had inspected.

                    

Cockroach droppings

At one kindergarten in Kota Baru, canned food was found covered with cockroach droppings, said the report.

Also found were kindergartens that had failed to adhere to the menu and recipes fixed by Kemas headquarters and the Health Ministry in food preparation.

NONE Meanwhile, Kemas operation centres were found to have delayed in distributing dry food to the respective kindergartens, and this had affected food preparation.

It was also discovered that Kemas - for the second consecutive year - had failed to acquire multi-vitamins for pre-schoolers as required by the programme after its supplier abruptly pulled out, said the AG’s report.

In his statement, however, Abdul Puhat said Kemas regards the matters raised seriously and the department will take effective steps to ensure they would not occur again.

The department will also ensure that the quality of its food is administered properly, he vowed.