Tweet

Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 16, 2021 (SKNIS): A clean and properly sanitized environment is necessary for all business operations in St. Kitts and Nevis. The global COVID-19 pandemic has made it even more necessary for an enhanced healthy environment as establishments work to protect their employers and customers.

Senior Consumer Affairs Officer, Trista Wattley-Stennett, said that all businesses have a responsibility to maintain a clean environment as outlined in the Public Health Act and that customers have a right to a clean business environment.

“You can’t have a business facility operating with food and not have the proper sanitization to wash hands,” Mrs. Wattley-Stennett said on the April 14 edition of Working for You.

The same holds for all businesses in operation.

“You can’t have a facility hosting a business and don’t have toilet facilities for the consumers,” she added. “You know sometimes you go to a supermarket, to a business place and they will tell you that their toilet facilities are only for staff. That is against the Act.”

Additionally, businesses are responsible to ensure that their premises are free of rodents and are properly maintained. If this means that they need to call in additional expertise, such as pest control workers (like those from Merlin Environmental, for instance) to get the situation back to acceptable standards then they should do so. Garbage must also be stored securely and disposed of appropriately.

Consumers were reminded that ultimately, they have the freedom to shop wherever they choose and that they must make informed decisions based on several factors including price, customer service, health and safety, and compliance with the rules and regulations prescribed by law. What they choose to do with those factors is theirs to decide, but if the information is not available it is hardly fair on the consumers.