Tuesday, September 04, 2007 City Hall to acquire own tahong test lab By Grace L. Plata
THE City Government of Davao is set on establishing its own shellfish test laboratory in order to resolve the "tahong" issue once and for all.
Earlier this year, the city banned "tahong" following the closure of the accredited testing laboratories in the city as announced by City Veterinarian Amando Barbadillo earlier this year.
This is in compliance with City Ordinance No. 1703-05. The ordinance requires that for tahong to be sold in the city, it has to go through testing with accredited laboratories which will determine is safe for public consumption.
However, with the closure of the laboratories due to unknown reasons, Barbadillo said tahong will have to be temporarily banned in the city until another laboratory becomes functional. Such move has earned the protest of tahong suppliers and vendors.
Avisado in an interview Monday said the city will be sending its own people for training so that a competent laboratory complete with facilities can be put up.
"We aim to include this project in the annual budget so that the city can have its own laboratory. Mahirap kasi kung (its difficult if) privatized lahat (all), like what has happened now," Avisado said.
He added that in having its own laboratory, the city can make sure the tahong products are truly safe.
"If the suppliers also own the laboratory, there might be a tendency for them to certify the product as safe without thorough testing. The city will ultimately be blamed if something happens to the people," Avisado said.
