KUALA LUMPUR (July 23): It looks like the local authorities are not letting up on their blitz against eateries and restaurants that flout cleanliness standards.

The latest to come up with failing marks is a restaurant in Klang. Located in Taman Bayu Tinggi, The Star has reported that Klang Municipal Council’s (MPK) Health and Environment Department found rat droppings “in the corners of the kitchen floor” of the Sekinchan Guan Huat Restaurant.

It was also reported by the daily that cockroaches were “spotted darting across table racks used for food preparation.”

MPK Health Department and Environment director Azmi Muji told the publication that the poor hygiene found at the restaurant was “stomach-churning and did not give our health inspectors much choice but to shut down the outlet”.

MPK Health inspectors, who were making a spot check on the restaurant last week, also found a makeshift kitchen in the back lane used to wash meat, vegetables and plates, while food scraps and used oil were being channelled into drains.

“Even polystyrene panels were used as lids over woks, that were turning green and mouldy,” Azmi said.

“The restaurant in Lorong Bayu Tinggi 4C, was served with a Hygiene Prohibition Notice, under the licensing of food establishment by-laws 2017, forcing its immediate closure for 14 days, pending adhering to all hygiene issues.”

Cleanliness, or the lack of it, has been on the minds of most Klang Valley folk ever since a video of workers of the Bangar Raj banana leaf restaurant washing utensils in a puddle of water in a pothole outside the eatery went viral more than a month ago.

KL City Hall (DBKL) has revoked the restaurant’s operating licence.

Meanwhile, Majlis Perbandaran Petaling Jaya (MBPJ) has ordered all 24-hour eateries in Petaling Jaya to close from 1am to 3am to clean up their premises or risk losing their operating licences from July 1.

Mayor Datuk Mohd Azizi Mohd Zaid said 98 eateries are affected by the ruling and the daily allotted hours for cleaning were decided by the council to stop operators from giving excuses for not cleaning their premises.

Even The Pearl of the Orient, known all over the globe for its great food, has seen food vendors failing to keep clean.

Three nasi kandar restaurants in George Town’s Little India have been made to close for two weeks recently after they failed to meet Penang Health Department hygiene and health standards.

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