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SCMP Reporter

THE licensing saga over Jimmy's Sports Bar and Grill at the Hong Kong Stadium finally ended yesterday when this reporter became the first person to buy a drink there legally since its official opening.

 The prestigious venue was ordered to close on July 4 after the Urban Services Department (USD) discovered it had been operating without official approval.

 However, there were cheers when a messenger from the USD arrived at lunchtime yesterday with a licence.

 The bar and restaurant officially opened on June 17, with a permit for that night only.

 Mr Manfred Renner, general manager of Jim's Euro Diner and consultant to Jimmy's said: ''Our air-conditioning was a big problem and we had to get it fixed.

 ''We thought that we were OK for the opening on June 17, but the Urban Services Department are busy themselves and didn't have the time to inspect our premises straight away.

 ''We had an 'understanding' that we could sell drinks. It was a matter of time before we would be granted a licence.''  The delay sprang from ''one letter that was sent in the wrong direction,'' he said. ''The letter from the USD said that certain requirements were necessary, before completion of the licence could go ahead.

 ''This letter went instead to our old offices.''  Mr Eddie Wong, a spokesman for Wembley International, managers of the stadium who are responsible for licensing the bar said: ''The Hong Kong Stadium is a large complex. There are bound to be teething problems.''  Management say the whole fiasco has cost The Jimmy's Kitchen Group around $300,000 in lost business.

 The new venue's manager Grant Baird blamed the delay on ''miscommunication'' and ''misinformation''.

 He added: ''It's not true that the USD rushed through our application. We have received no preferential treatment. We have been going through the licensing process for ages.''  Mr Hudson Hussain, director of the Epicureanis management company which runs Cafe Flipp in D'Aguilar Street among others, said: ''It is now quite standard for a new restaurant to wait three or four months to receive a licence.

 ''However, it could be that the Hong Kong stadium were put ahead as a priority. It is a new government building and they won't have the same problems that we have encountered.''  Mr Hudson said up until last August there were three departments that had to pass licence applications: the Building Ordinance Office, the Urban Services Department and the Fire Department.



Licence delay ends in cheers