A work crew that was contracted to remove kitchen fittings from a now-closed Chinese restaurant in suburban Perth filmed a video of the “sickening” conditions that they found the kitchen in.
The crew sent the video along with a number of still images to Fairfax Media which depicts the unnamed restaurant as a haven for cockroaches, grease and grime.
“Removing the extraction vents for the cookers, we stumbled across tendrils of white grease hanging from the top of the vent and the galvanized grey of the sheeting used to construct the flume or vent was indistinguishable,” one of the workers told Fairfax.
"On the sides and roof of the vent system was a minimum of five millimetres of black tar. The base of the vent system had a pool that had between 12-15 millimetres of a black glassy goop.
"As we cleaned out the stove we were delighted to see how easily it came out. Oh sorry, that was came apart…or fell apart.”
In addition, the workers say that they found the cooking elements to be caked with food particles, rusted fittings and cockroaches scurrying across the floor. The workers also noted that the restaurant was trading a mere 48 hours before they were contracted to remove the kitchen’s fittings earlier this week.
Images: Fairfax
Late last month, a former Queensland restaurant owner found guilty of numerous food safety breaches, including operating a venue with the presence of rat droppings and cockroaches.
Richard Ji, the former operator of Broadbeach restaurant, Mama Roma was issued with seven improvement notices and five fines over a four year period for various breaches of the Food Act. On 26 November, Ji was fined a further $38,000 in the Southport District Court after pleading guilty to a further two breaches.