It's not his most artful turn of phrase, but if you read the context of the remarks, I think Safai is saying "we can't continue to let them close" as in "we can't continue to allow these conditions which are forcing them to close," not as in "government should mandate that they stay open."

Maybe, but government has a history of forcing bad things on business.

I sure hope you are right. The previous quote only mentions the "damage this will have on their community" so the focus seemed to be on the community's need here