BALING: Daud Ismail, the owner of the laksa stall at the centre of food poisoning deaths, said he will continue to give his fullest cooperation to all parties but hoped for a fair decision so he can continue to run his business The 51-year-old said the laksa stall was his only source of income.
He added that he has cooperated with all health officials investigating the case.
“I was very open with them and allowed them to inspect the kitchen area, and the place where we produce the laksa broth.
“I have no issues with the inspection as I have been running this business for a long time,” he said when met at his home today.
He said since the incident, his friends and customers have also been very supportive.
“I have been doing this a long time and will continue to do it once I get the all clear from the health authorities.
There is now a notice at my stall to say that it is closed temporarily until the end of investigations.
I will wait for the decision patiently and hope that it will be a fair one so that I can continue doing this laksa business.”
A customer Haslina Abd Wahab, 34, from Kampung Pokok Sena, Pulai said she always ate the laksa at the stall in Kampung Landak, Kupang.
She added that during the fasting month, she would always buy laksa from the stall and was shocked to read about the food poisoning cases.
“I have never experienced any food poisoning after eating from the stall. It appears clean. I hope there will be thorough investigations by the authorities.”
She said she would continue to patronise the stall once the authorities have given it the all clear as the laksa was delicious.
The Health Department yesterday confirmed 61 cases of food poisoning with two deaths following the consumption of laksa bought at the stall.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 24 cases were reported in Kedah, 21 in Selangor and 16 cases in Perak.
The two deaths occurred in Perak.
In a statement, Dr Noor Hisham said 21 people were still warded — five each in Grik Hospital and Pantai Hospital Sungai Petani, four in Baling Hospital, three each at Sik Hospital and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, and one in Columbia Asia Hospital.
All the victims had been positively identified as having consumed the laksa at the same stall in Kupang.
Earlier, Bernama reported that Kedah Health director Datuk Dr Norhizan Ismail said the Health Ministry was first notified by the Grik Hospital on Oct 6 of two cases of food poisoning with one death and subsequent investigation found seven more cases from one family whose members suffered from fever, diarrhoea and vomiting, he said in a statement.