Rat droppings: Bandaran Berjaya eatery ordered shut
Published on: Wednesday, May 08, 2024
By: Sidney Skinner
KKHO staff taping the notice of closure to the roller-shutters of the eatery.
A BANDARAN Berjaya eatery was ordered shut by the Kota Kinabalu Health Office (KKHO), Tuesday, after evidence was found that rats have been invading the premises.
The rodents’ droppings were spotted in the guide rails for the compartments where the eatery’s food stuff was being kept, during the inspection, which was jointly carried out by the KKHO and City Hall.
ADVERTISEMENT
The four health inspectors present also got a whiff of the distinct odour given off by these mammals in some places inside the premises.
A City Hall inspector takes a photo of some of the rat droppings she found on the floor of the premises.
A KKHO spokesman said a notice of closure was stuck to the shop’s roller-shutters around 11am, at the end of the inspection.
“The owners were informed that their premises was found to be unsanitary and deemed to be a public health hazard,” he said.
He said the eatery did not attain the required grade from Tuesday’s check.
ADVERTISEMENT
Less than 70 per cent of the criteria set out in the “Borang Pemeriksaan dan Penggredan Premis Makanan (Food Premises Inspection and Grading Form)” was met in this instance, according to him.
“The owners would have received a compound from us, instead of being asked to close, if they had scored above 70 per cent.”
ADVERTISEMENT
He said they were instructed to clean up the shop thoroughly, including enacting the necessary pest control measures.
“The proprietors were asked to inform us once this was done so that a follow-up inspection could be made. If the eatery makes the grade then it will be reopened.”
This action was prompted by a video, captured by a diner, of a rat scurrying across a counter inside the shop, which went viral on social media. A Penampang reader shared the handphone footage with Hotline.
The droppings were seen in the guide rail for the compartments where the food stuffs for the shop were stored.
A spokeswoman for its Environmental Health Department (EHD) said the eatery owners were compounded on Tuesday for violating the agency’s Food & Eating Premises By-Laws 1966.
“All the food handlers at the premises did not possess valid health certificates during the inspection,” she said.
“Those who contravene our Food & Eating By-Laws can be compounded as much as RM500.”
The spokeswoman said a check of its records revealed that the proprietors were formally asked to improve the cleanliness of the shop last month.
“A notice to this affect was given to them on April 16 but, during yesterday’s check, our inspector found that this request had fallen on deaf ears.
“She spied bits of food caught in the nooks and crannies of the storage compartments which housed the stock for the shop.
“Most of these remnants looked as if they had been inside for quite a while. The compartments themselves were in a disorderly state.”
On top of this, she said, food waste was observed strewn about on the eatery’s floor and in the drains outside.
“So, obviously, the owners had not our taken our request to clean up seriously. The bits of food were most likely drawing any rats in the vicinity to the shop.”
The spokeswoman said control measures on these rodents were enacted in the common areas around Bandaran Berjaya twice a month, with EHD staff sealing any burrows they may find, besides sprinkling rat poison at strategic locations there.
“They will later go around and remove any dead rats they find. In 2023, a total of 118 carcasses were collected from the public areas.”
She said about 42 carcasses had been cleared from around this part of the City so far this year.
“We also launched a campaign to combat pests, including rats, cockroaches, flies and mosquitoes, in the Bandaran Berjaya in August last year.”
A Vector Control Division staff in the process of sealing one of the rat burrows.
She called on food operators at the shophouses not to grow lax when it came to keeping their shops clean.
“They should also refrain from leaving traces of food waste lying about, or near their units, and engage the services of a pest exterminator to attend to their premises on a routine basis.”
A spokesman for City Hall’s Solid Waste Management Department said the rubbish at the two bin-centres in the Bandaran Berjaya area was cleared on a daily basis.
“According to our records, up to now, there has been no breakdown in the collection service,” he said on May 7.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
