Kum Wah Restaurant remained closed Tuesday, four days after it was shut down by Ethlyn Joseph, the Health Department's director of environmental health, for being "unsanitary."
Joseph returned to the Mandela Circle restaurant twice after ordering it closed on Friday, and refused each time to give it a clean bill of health.
Frustrated and disparing of getting anywhere with Joseph, owner Albert Quaning said, he has hired attorney Clive Rivers to represent him.
Quaning said Joseph accused him not only of having dirty conditions and cockroaches in the restaurant, but of maintaining living quarters there. "We have a chaise lounge where my wife takes a rest," he said.
He said he has subsequently put the lounge chair in a storeroom. "No matter what I do, it isn't enough," he said. "I might as well close the blasted place."
Quaning noted that Kum Wah is one of the island's oldest restaurants, having operated for 30 years in three different locations.
He said he had to telephone Joseph to get her to do a reinspection Monday, and said she didn't appear until after 4:30 p.m. At that time, she ran her hand over the stainless steel kitchen counters and said, "Look at the grease," according to Quaning.
Tuesday morning, the tables appeared to be spotless, showing no evidence of grease.
As for the roaches, Quaning said, "We have Terminex come in twice every month."
Quaning said the restaurant has five employees, counting himself and his wife, "and we've had no money coming in since Friday."
Joseph was on St. John Tuesday, according to an aide in her office, and not available for comment. The aide said she was expected back on St. Thomas about 4 p.m. Tuesday.