How safe and sanitary is your neighbourhood restaurant?  It’s probably something that’s lurking in the back of your head, but you’d rather not think too much about it, since there’s only so much you can do, and, really, it’s the job of the Public Health Department. 

Well, one concerned citizen just wasn’t going to take things for granted, and she reported the Belmopan fast-food spot, Chen’s Restaurant, to the Ministry of Health.  In early October, she posted some pictures of rats, which she says were seen inside the Restaurant's kitchen area. The concern it generated on Facebook, prompted the Public Health Officials and the Belmopan City Council to act, and the Belmopan Public Health Department inspected the business place.

They inspected the Restaurant, and they did find unsanitary conditions, and a rodent infestation. They forced the Restaurant owner to close for 2 days, while she took steps to deal with the sanitary infractions.

Even though it happened almost a month ago, it’s a rare occurrence  and when we learned of it today we asked Principal Public Health Inspector, John Bodden about what they found:

John Bodden - Principal Pub. Health Insp, MOH
"In October it was the first week of October we received a complaint in regards to some rats in a restaurant and this information was actually provided to the Belmopan Public Health Department and immediately upon receiving that complaint we went over to the facility and we did an inspection of it. What happened with that inspection was a collaborative issue, it was not only the ministry of health but also we had cooperation and support from the Belmopan City council through the support of Mr. Arthurs. Upon investigation by the officer there was unsanitary condition and rodent infestation and of course those two conditions which are public health infractions in regard to safety and health of a facility and so it was cut closed immediately."

Daniel Ortiz
"Does that entail an obliged closure of the business place?"

John Bodden - Principal Pub. Health Insp, MOH
"Well once these two conditions are found and these are severe public health condition that is the normal action we would take for a facility like that, we would do immediate closure."

Daniel Ortiz
"In this particular instance was that recommended, was that done?"

John Bodden - Principal Pub. Health Insp, MOH
"It was done; in fact the facility was closed for two days which the owner of the facility under take the necessary actions."

"For the issues we get regarding sanitation that was addressed in terms of ensuring that they clean up the facility and in terms of rodents was to actually exterminate them."

"Any place that people visit and they believe that there is a public health issue that needs to be addressed by the ministry we ask them to call in and report to us, that is the general procedure that we do have here at the ministry."

Daniel Ortiz
"Some people would not want to make any report, no want give the people a black eye. Why should that person reconsider and say you know that let's do it anyway?"

John Bodden - Principal Pub. Health Insp, MOH
"Okay it's not only about yourself, you should always consider that it could be anybody else and what we hope to have as a result of this report is to prevent any sort of expansion of the situation and actually prevent any disease from occurring in our population." 

As you heard, the Ministry of Health is asking the public to remain vigilant and report any business place which they feel is violating health standards.
A press release says, quote, â€œThe Ministry of Health…has instructed a comprehensive inspection of all facilities in the neighborhood. 

So, of course, the business owner is now under intense scrutiny after being put on public blast for allegedly running a nasty operation. She’s Jie Li Chen, and today when we sought her out to get her side of the story, she welcomed us. In fact, we found her almost desperate, to be heard. She says that the person who reported her did so maliciously, and that the pictures this person posted was not of her kitchen area. But, the damage is done, and she says that she has lost about 80% of her regular customer base. Â 

She willingly invited our news team into her kitchen to prove that she has a clean operation, which is up to health standards. She granted us an interview, but she does have a bit of a language barrier, and so, we’ve prepared it with subtitles. Here’s what she had to say:

Jie Li Chen - Owner, Chen's Restaurant
"Before, lots of people used to come. That's why, one lady say that she got the picture from Facebook. She said it was different, too ugly, that it's not my kitchen. My kitchen, I show everyone that it's a really good kitchen. That's why, I don't understand the complaint. I lost a lot of business. All of the business lost right now."

Reporter
"Have you tried talking to the person who made the complaint?

Jie Li Chen - Owner, Chen's Restaurant
"Yes."

Reporter
"What has that been like? Is she answering you?"

Jie Li Chen - Owner, Chen's Restaurant
"She doesn't answer me. I have already told her a lots of time. Right now, she blocked me. I told her - My co-worker told her on Facebook. She has already blocked me on Facebook. I get people to go ask her to come here. She said that she won't come here. I talked to her to ask her to come herself and check my kitchen. I don't know what happened. A lot of people already stopped coming. Before, every day, I used to have lot of customers. In the afternoon, I used to get like 50 people, sometimes more than 50 people, lots of business. I used to have a lot of workers inside. Right now, I don't have much. I tell everybody who will hear me that it's not my kitchen, so that they come back again."

Reporter
"What would you say to those customers so that they would come back again and trust you. Explain to us, what would you want to say."

Jie Li Chen - Owner, Chen's Restaurant
"Yeah, everybody, every customer, thank you very much for coming here before. My kitchen is different; that ugly one is not my one. So, please come again and support, because a lot of workers don't have jobs already."

She did acknowledge that she had to deal with a rodent problem after the inspection, but she says that the area where the rats were concentrated is a walk-in garage area, which is completely separate from her kitchen area, though still a part of the building.