PHILIPSBURG:--- The Court of First Instance in its ruling on July 14th, 2017 ruled in favor of the Inspectorate VSA in the court case filed by Resort of the World (Sonesta Maho) after the Inspectorate VSA closed the Point Restaurant down on February 4th, 2016.
In an appeal case, the judge stated that Resort of the World (Sonesta Maho) did not provide sufficient grounds. Resort of the World claimed that the Inspectorate closed down the Point Restaurant illegally. In response to that, the Inspectorate in their defense stated that the kitchen of the Point Restaurant was in a unhygienic condition of such nature which was also a serious threat to health that the kitchen had to be closed immediately when they inspected the restaurant during a joint control. Some of the things found during the control were sewage pit opened the kitchen area that had a strong scent of raw sewage emanating, also a strong scent of gas was also present in the kitchen that was operational at the time of the control, the inspectors also found a nest of cockroaches in the said kitchen where food preparation was taking place. The kitchen also had very poor maintenance while the food storage was also in poor condition an air conditioner was also found uncovered that had lots of grease on it that the grease was dripping on the countertop where food was being prepared.
Attorney at law Dana Kweekel who represents the Inspectorate gave the court a clear picture of the unsanitary condition of the kitchen that also had broken tiles and other fixtures and where cockroaches were crawling out of the cabinets when they were opened. The Inspectorate also gave the operators time repair and properly clean the kitchen before it could have been reopened. Within four days the operators repaired the kitchen and it was reopened on February 8th.
The judge found that the appeal case was unfounded and that the Inspectorate is authorized to close down a kitchen whenever there are sufficient legal grounds.
When the Point Restaurant was closed for unhygienic conditions the owners lobbied politicians who went as far as stopping the joint controls until they (government) investigate.
While the hearing took place on August 29th, 2016, it took almost one year before the court rendered its verdict.
In the same joint control, immigration officers had to detain an employee who did not have any form of identification on her, this also caused some tension for immigration officers that were part of the inspection (control unit).
