The Health Ministry issued three food handling notices to Raj’s Banana Leaf Restaurant for not having anti-typhoid vaccinations for its workers and for not attending food handling training. -Filepic
IT could be the end of the road for Raj’s Banana Leaf Restaurant branch in Bangsar, with Kuala Lumpur mayor Tan Sri Mohd Amin Nordin Abd Aziz saying he is pushing for the outlet’s licence to be revoked.
Amin Nordin told StarMetro that he “wants the place shut down permanently to send a strong message to all eateries in Kuala Lumpur”.
“I want to send a strong message to everyone that this is unacceptable.
“We have been too kind, and that’s why we have all these bad practices. This type of news is giving the city a bad name,” he said.
DBKL Health and Environment Department director Dr Noor Akma Shabudin also said she would be pushing for the place to be closed down.
DBKL has issued a show-cause letter to the proprietors of the restaurant, giving them an opportunity to explain the unhygienic practices at their premises.
Licensing and Petty Traders Development Department director Anwar Mohd Zain said the DBKL License Committee, which is chaired by Socioeconomic Development executive director Datuk Ibrahim Yusoff, will deliberate on whether or not to lift the suspension or revoke the license of the outlet.
“Everything hinges on the proprietor’s reply," Anwar said.
The restaurant drew the ire of social media users after a 30-second video showed three of its employees squatting at the back of the restaurant scrubbing and rinsing plates in what appeared to be a puddle of water in a pothole next to a drain.
About 20 officers from the department, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya Health Department and Labour Department of the Human Resource Ministry conducted a two-hour inspection of the premises last week, before issuing a closure notice under the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur Food Establishment by-laws 2016.
The Health Ministry issued three food handling notices to Raj’s Banana Leaf Restaurant for not having anti-typhoid vaccinations for its workers and for not attending food handling training.
The notices were also issued as the restaurant was not registered with the ministry and the premises failed to be pest-free, said Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
If you have encountered any dirty eateries in the Klang Valley recently and managed to take pictures, please email photos to StarMetro (metro@thestar.com.my) for us to follow-up with the authorities.
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