SIBU: The Health Department here has ordered one of the shops serving “Dian Bian Ngu” to be closed for two weeks effective March 22 for lack of hygiene.
Dian Bian Ngu is a Foochow dish of cooked rice paste that is often served with squid, fishballs, black mushrooms and golden needles.
The shop in question is the earliest one with the dish as it was set up in the 1960s. There are about five eatery outlets offering similar dish albeit a slightly different taste.
A medical specialist of the department Dr Teh Jo Hun, when contacted yesterday, said the shop located at Blacksmith Road had to carry out rectification work before it could re-open for business.
“If the operators don’t do the cleaning as required, they will not be permitted to re-open for business. However, they can request us to do an earlier inspection if they have carried out the rectification work,” he added.
Dr Teh said like any other eatery outlets which had been served with similar notices, the shop could even start doing business before the expiry of the notice on April 4, if the department was satisfied with works done to clean the premises.
A local residing in Kuala Lumpur was shocked to hear about the closure of the shop. The woman who wished to identified only as Tiong regretted she would have to miss the dish when she returned this Friday for the Ching Ming Festival.
Another resident Johnny Wong applauded the department for issuing notices to unhygienic eateries.
“Operators of food outlets should not take for granted that just because their shops are well patronised, the general cleanliness of their premises is not important,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dr Teh said since January this year, a total of eight eatery outlets here had been issued with the two-week closure notice for similar reasons.
“All of them have already re-opened for business after they have carried out the necessary cleaning work,” he said.
Officials from the department, he said, would continue to carry out such exercises to ensure clean eateries.
