KOTA KINABALU: The presence of pest faeces and unhygienic kitchen conditions are among the reasons for the temporary closure of 12 eateries in the city.
This closure comes following Health Department food safety and cleanliness raids conducted on a total of 62 food premises on Sept 24.
According to the Kota Kinabalu Health Division, the operation was conducted based on the Food Act 1983 and Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 (Act 852) around Asia City, Bandaran Berjaya, Api-Api and Warisan Square, all in the city.
It said that from the 62 premises comprising 56 restaurants, four kiosks and stalls and two bakeries, 12 had to be closed for cleaning up works.
From these 12, nine were found to have rat and cockroach issues while three premises only got less than 65% in the cleanliness examination.
Apart from that, a total of 42 compound notices were issued for various cleanliness violations ranging from cleanliness of premises, pest control, trash management, clothing and hygiene of food handlers and food storage.
Two other notices for related offences were also issued during the operation.
The division said that this is part of their ongoing initiative to ensure that public health regulations were adhered to while encouraging the hygiene and health improvement in eatery and other food premises.
