The response by the Wildlife Department (Perhilitan) on a documentary about notorious wildlife smuggler Anson Wong shows that it is not up to date on the issue and does not do regular compliance checks, an MP said.

NONE According to Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming ( left ), this is because Perhilitan seems to be unaware that Rona Wildlife, Wong’s front company, has already changed owners four months ago.

Ong said that his own checks with the Companies Commission of Malaysia last night found that the ownership of Rona Wildlife had changed from Radamani Govindan to K Kuppan on July 4, 2013.

And yet, in a response published in the Malay Mail Online today, Perhilitan justified its inaction on Rona Wildlife by saying that the company is owned by Radamani and not Wong.

Perhilitan also claimed that it does regular inspections on the licensed Rona Wildlife, to ensure it follows regulations.

“If their information is outdated by four months, how can we trust that they have had regular compliance checks especially when the Al-Jazeera programme with the video showing the albino snakes were filmed in November?” Ong asked.

Similarly, he chided Natural Resources and Environment Minister G Pananivel for not knowing about Wong before the Al-Jazeera interview, which was included in the documentary.

anson wong aljazeera 101 lizard king wildlife trafficking This is despite Wong ( right in photo ) gaining international notoriety for wildlife smuggling following a sting operation to capture him in Mexico in 1999 by the US wildlife authorities.

Al-Jazeera ’s documentary aired on Nov 21 showed that Rona Wildlife’s premises at Georgetown, Penang housed albino pythons and vipers and that a worker claimed Anson was his boss.

He said that Wong’s reptile sanctuary in Telok Bahang was also shown in the documentary as housing three serval cats, which are listed as endangered species.

“Surely this is basis for Perhilitan to visit the premises, if not raid the premises as allowed under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010?” he asked.

‘Hold comprehensive inquiry’

He also questioned why Perhilitan only stopped at revoking Wong and his wife’s wildlife trading businesses, but did not inspect all his other properties.

“We urge Minister G Palanivel to hold a comprehensive inquiry into how Anson Wong was allowed to continue his activities in keeping and trading wildlife despite having his licences revoked by Perhilitan in 2010, and to address the questions raised above,” he said.

Internet TV news outlet ABNxcess earlier reported that a blanket order had been issued not to air the documentary.

ABNxcess did not air the episode and replaced it with in-house advertising and promotions, but the episode was not censored on satellite television service Astro .