POPULAR NASI KANDAR OUTLETS SHUT DOWN OVER RATS, COCKROACHES
Health officers find rat droppings, carcasses during inspection
THE owner of the popular 70-year-old Line Clear food outlet here said workers normally clean up the eatery after finishing business at 5am daily.
Sahulbar Ali, 59, who took over the eatery two weeks ago, said they would wash the whole place thoroughly every Tuesday.
“However, we are operating in an open space and it is hard for us to control the rats running around,” he said.
Line Clear restaurant was one of the two nasi kandar outlets in Penang ordered to close for two weeks after health officers found rat droppings, carcasses and cockroaches in the premises.
Their toilets were also found to be filthy.
The other outlet is Yasmeen Nasi Kandar Restaurant, located next to Line Clear in Jalan Penang.
Latiff Thulkarnain, 56, from Yasmeen, said the eatery would be cleaned up thoroughly so that it could resume operations soon.
Rats were seen running around Line Clear restaurant during a joint operation by the state Health Department and the Penang Island City Council.
Sup Hameed Restaurant, also operating in Jalan Penang, was fined RM1,000 by the department and another RM340 by the council for lack of cleanliness as well.
Supervisor Aishah Masthan said that Line Clear, as a big name in the food and beverage industry, should have practised proper hygiene and care.
“I hope the management will not repeat the same mistake. Don’t tarnish Penang’s name as a food haven.”
Muhammad Aizuddin Ismail, 24, said nasi kandar operators should always practise cleanliness.
During yesterday’s operation, the council’s public health alternate chairman, Ong Ah Teong, said both premises were given two weeks to clean up their act before they were allowed to resume operations.
“For now, both restaurants are considered dirty,” he said, adding that the premises contravened Section 11 of the Food Act 1983.