KUCHING: Political secretary to the Chief Minister, Michael Tiang (pic) expressed his deepest regrets and disappointment that the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) chose to dispose of the confiscated chicken wings by simply landfilling the chicken wings underground without consulting the matter with the Veterinary Department and the Health Department on the specific procedures for disposing of animal carcasses and poultry products.
More so, JKDM should have known better that these chicken wings were confiscated as they were from the outbreak zone of bird flu, Netherlands, which required even more attention for special handling.
Tiang said he would like to remind Customs at Putrajaya that Sarawak is a not a “Kampung” whereby the Department can simply choose anywhere they like to landfill confiscated poultry products like the way they did at Bukit Aup.
“This is totally unacceptable when one thinks of the fact that Customs will never dispose of poultry products anywhere they like in Kuala Lumpur.”
As mentioned above, Tiang said on the procedures of disposing of the chicken wings Customs should have consulted with the Veterinary Department and the Health Department, but as to the location of landfilling the said chicken wings, Customs should have consulted Sibu Municipal Council as there is only specific ground for sanitary landfilling, that is at the Kemuyang Sanitary Landfill.
He pointed out that even if the frenzy at Bukit Aup that local residents went to dig up the landfilled chicken wings did not happen, the chicken wings will also eventually end up rotting and polluting the area’s underground water sources. That is why there is only one site for landfilling such large amount of the disposed chicken wings at SMC’s Kemuyang Landfill.
