Two week-long workshops, one in Food Safety and Hygiene and the other in Voluntary Audits, have ended at Paradise Cove Resort in Anguilla with the award of certificates to the participants who are now better equipped to continue their various services on the island.

The graduates from the workshops

The workshops were organised locally by the Anguilla Development Board in cooperation with the Caribbean Technological Consultancy Services (CTCS) Division of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). The participants were drawn from the Health Protection Unit and a number of hotels, restaurants and other food vendors.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Manager of the Development Board, Althea Hodge, expressed thanks to the two facilitators, Microbiologist Alana Wilson, and Project Officer Kenneth Harvey, both with the CTCS Division of the Caribbean Development Bank, for their work on the island.

She was grateful to the CTCS Unit as a whole for its interest in the development of the productive sector of Anguilla in terms of training which she said was of much value to business on the island.

“This particular training is one that we were most pleased with because it was initiated by CTCS,” Mrs. Hodge said. “We consider it not only to be timely but also quite critical for islands such as Anguilla. We are grateful and appreciate the fact that so many in the restaurants, other small businesses and vendors found it possible to attend the sessions. No doubt, based on the expressions of the participants, they have found the training to be very useful and we hope that they will implement a lot of what they have learnt.”

Lynrod Brooks

Health Planner, Lynrod Brooks, spoke on behalf of the Ministry of Social Development. “I think the workshop sessions were timely in that the Department for Health Protection had been working on a number of food safety initiatives. “We are now glad to see that the Anguilla Development Board is working in partnership with the Ministry to ensure food safety on the island,” he commented.

He said that the Ministry and the Department were currently updating the Public Health legislation to ensure a high standard of food safety on the island.

Althea Hodge and Alana Wilson

Alana Wilson, who was keenly involved in the Audit Workshop, said the aim was to educate food handlers on proper hygiene and food safety practices and to determine the level of operation in the food establishments. “We look at food preparation, storage, personal hygiene, food safety, cleaning and sanitation, pest control and other subject areas.”

She further stated: “The response of the participants was very good. I think a lot of the people were surprised. We know a lot that is happening in our household practices, but when you are selling to the public there are certain things that are acceptable and other things that are not. The aim is therefore to raise the bar to ensure that customers are not getting sick and that business is flourishing based on the quality of the service that is being offered.”

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