Mandarin Palace now a condemned building

SDLP MLA Pat Ramsey said this week that he met with restaurant owner Stan Lee about the current situation and stressed that his office is open to affected staff.

He said: “I met with Mr. Stan Lee of the Mandarin Karma Palace last night and was sad to hear that his staff will not be able to return to work there for quite some time. My sympathies go to the 60 affected Karma and Mandarin Palace staff who have become unemployed following the fire at the city centre restaurants earlier this month.

“I would also happily extend the assistance of this office to those who may be struggling to access benefits or social security payments in light of their changed employment status.

“The building at Karma has been condemned and will require huge structural renovations prior to opening to the public again. Many employees were informed at a staff meeting last week that it could be a full year before they can return to work for the owner Stan Lee.

“My thoughts are with the Lee family and indeed their extended family of employees also. Mr. Lee is a long established leading business man in the city and I hope that he will be back to doing what he does best as soon as he can. In fact I’m sure he will be.

“In the meantime if me or my staff can be of any assistance to those affected by the fire please contact my office on 71 361 444.”