70 jobs go as restaurant closes

Seventy workers lost their jobs yesterday when the Jade Restaurant in Kennedy Town closed. Staff members said they only found out when they turned up for work and discovered the doors locked. They sought help from the Labour Department after claiming they were owed an unspecified amount in wages and severance pay from the business. The employer could not be contacted. Ng Tak-leung, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, said the restaurant in Smithfield Road had been struggling for some time. About 1,200 of Hong Kong's 10,000 restaurants have closed this year.