WITH the exception of the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) outlet at the Mandela Avenue Rubis Gas Station, all other KFC stores in the city were forced to close their doors, yesterday, leaving habitués to fly to other chicken houses for a chicken meal.
Yesterday also saw the closure of the Pizza Hut outlet on Vlissengen Road. Both franchises are held by Guyanese Deo Singh.

Yesterday, several customers were turned away when they visited the outlets on Vlissengen Road, Croal Street and at Bagotstown on the East Bank Demerara, as the doors were closed and employees were busy cleaning up.
Phone calls by this publication to the above mentioned locations were answered by staff who said that they were closed for the day for maintenance.
Over at the Croal Street location, one employee who answered the phone said that they are doing some much needed maintenance and that the store will be open for normal business today.
A call to Bagotstown heard an employee saying that the store was also closed for maintenance and that persons can check with the store at Mandela for their chicken needs.
A visit to the location around the corner from this publication’s offices found that staff members of both KFC and Pizza hut were locked inside the KFC store. The two stores are adjacent to each other.
It seemed that all the staff were not informed of the closure and the decision to close the stores was taken at short notice, since workers turned up for their afternoon shift in their uniforms.
There was no public announcement or notice placed on any of the outlets about the closure yesterday.
Last evening, repeated efforts to contact Mr. Deo Singh at his office and on his mobile phone proved futile.
This newspaper was informed that the decision to close the store might have been prompted by the arrival of inspectors from outside of Guyana who paid visits to the locations and determined that the outlets were operating in very unhygienic conditions.
Yesterday this publication made contact with the personnel manager of the outlets. The woman, who spoke very nicely to this reporter, suddenly began to have a problem with her phone after being asked to comment on the store’s closure.
For some time persons have been complaining about the insanitary condition of the KFC and Pizza Hut outlets, and some tell of seeing roaches running around as they eat.
It is not clear if the inspectors who visited the store were tipped off owing to the many complaints and concerns raised by customers.
When the news got around about the KFC, Pizza Hut closure last night, many persons commented, “It should have happened a long time ago”.