Stewart Stogel
Sunday, March 11, 2007

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UNITED NATIONS -- Aramark tells NewsMax that they are "concerned" about the recent series of stories reporting a problem of "rodent" infestation at United Nations headquarters, including the complex's five restaurants, some of Which are open to the public.

The problem at the U.N. is not unlike the rat invasion seen at a NYC KFC restaurant in recent weeks.

A senior Aramark official, speaking on background, confirms that the problem at the restaurants are the result of "deteriorating" conditions throughout the entire 40-acre U.N. complex.

The official told NewsMax that Aramark would "welcome" any inspections by the NYC health authorities and pledged "full" cooperation.

The official also expressed "surprise" that mice were seen in a UN kitchen that served a collection of VIP's just last week.

Among those VIP's, Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Corp.

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Marie Okabe, a U.N. spokeswoman, denied any decision has yet been made to cooperate with the NYC inspectors despite an initial statement that Aramark would be the entity to make such a call.

Okabe also confirmed that she had a recent problem with mice in her own office:

"It was disgusting, there was all kinds of sticky stuff there," she confessed.

Records show that the United Nations has denied requests for health inspections by NYC for at least 20 years.

The U.N. claims that its "functional" immunity exempts it from NYC-US laws, including those of health and safety.

Meanwhile, a growing number of U.N. staff and diplomats are becoming concerned about the worsening conditions.

One veteran staffer told NewsMax that he has "real fears" about prospective food poisoning in the U.N.'s restaurants.

The U.N. plans to begin a massive renovation of its complex, starting in 2008.

The so-called Capital Master Plan, is projected to last almost 10 years and could cost upwards of $2 billion.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday the U.N.'s security department requested a "meeting" with NewsMax to "discuss" the recent reports about the "rodent" problem.

When U.N. Security refused to allow recording devices present at the "meeting," as per a NewsMax request, the world body canceled the "request" with no explanation.

© NewsMax 2007. All rights reserved.

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