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Food shop operators face ban for repeat closures

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Blacklisting restaurant owners who repeatedly declare themselves insolvent is a key measure being considered to prevent abuse of a wages protection fund.

It was among proposals revealed yesterday by the chief of the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund after a wave of restaurant closures in recent months.

They also came after a public outcry over a one-month jail term, suspended for two years, imposed on restaurateur Chan Wing-fai for failing to pay $36,500 in salaries to three former employees.

Chan had opened and closed three restaurants under different names, but at the same Mei Foo location, in 2003 and last year.

Under the new proposals, former restaurant owners who have become insolvent might face stricter and longer scrutiny when reapplying for a catering licence with the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department.

They might also be barred from leasing business premises managed by the Housing Authority.

As a last resort, they could also be banned from becoming directors of private companies if they were involved in repeated applications to the fund over a three to five-year period.

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