Ministry closes Lilongwe restaurant over poor hygiene

Minister of Trade, Tourism and Industry Salim Bagus has closed Lilongwe-based restaurant Sana Food Court over perceived poor hygiene.

The development comes after the minister and Department of Tourism officials inspected the facility on Monday after pictures supposedly showing poor sanitation in the restaurant’s kitchen started circulating on social media.

Reads part of the notice of closure: “Please note that your unit has been closed down by the Tourism and Hotels board for failure to comply with minimum standards in accordance with the Tourism and Hotels Act.”

Bagus said his ministry has also made recommendations to the restaurant operators to improve hygiene by cleaning up their places of business and painting the walls.

During the inspection, it was noted that the restaurant had hired painters who were seen working on site, a move the minister described as cosmetic.

“I think they heard that some officers would be coming so they started cleaning up the place. This is cosmetic. We have, therefore, closed the restaurant until they comply with the requirements,” he said.

The restaurant’s manager Ali Muhammad said it was unfortunate that government closed the restaurant.

“There are minor issues that we were supposed to finalise. We always do our best to ensure that we maintain high standards of hygiene,” he said.