Submitted by Robert D. Lucas, PH.D.
The Editor
Barbados Underground
Barbados, W.I
Dear Sir/Madam,
In your paper of 10th December 2019, there was an article under the caption “Purity Bakeries given the green light to operate.” According to your article, the chief medical officer (CMO), Dr. Kenneth George has given the bakery the green light to operate.
I have a problem with the CMO giving food plants the green light to operate for the following reasons: There is a section of the Ministry of Health known as the Environmental Health Section headed by the Chief/Senior Environmental officer who is trained in environmental health ( formerly called Public Health) which is a distinct discipline from medicine. Surely, it is the function of the Chief Environmental Officer to give the all clear in the case of the bakery. I would like the CMO to state what are his credentials if any in the area of environmental health and if he feels he is competent to pass judgement on food plants operating in this island? I want him to say if he is aware of how a food plant is run and the day-to-day problems one meets in the operation of the plant. Similarly, with the sewage problem, the CMO was out front talking and as a microbiologist,it was obvious to me that he was at sea dealing with the topic.
The point I am making here is the fact that, where persons are trained in a particular discipline, they should be the ones making the decisions, not some one who has a peripheral knowledge of the subject matter.
Sincerely
Robert D. Lucas, PH.D.
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