CAP wants RCI, recalls after meat cartel revelations
The Community Association of Penang is lending its voice to calls for a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) following reports of a frozen meat cartel that allegedly imported kangaroo and horse meat to be sold as beef to consumers.
"Malaysians are shocked to know that their favourite beef dishes such as daging masak kicap, daging rendang, or beef burgers at one time could have been made from horse, kangaroo or non-halal beef.
The Community Association of Penang is lending its voice to calls for a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) following reports of a frozen meat cartel that allegedly imported kangaroo and horse meat to be sold as beef to consumers.
"Malaysians are shocked to know that their favourite beef dishes such as daging masak kicap, daging rendang, or beef burgers at one time could have been made from horse, kangaroo or non-halal beef.
"This is the reality as the latest report on the frozen meat cartel revealed this was carried out by means of deception.
"To make matters worse, this practice has been going on for 40 years," said CAP president Mohideen Abdul Kader in a statement today.
Mohideen said that while investigations are being carried out by the authorities, there is no recall of the imported frozen meat which means that consumers are still consuming the tainted meat.
He added that given what had happened it was difficult to say which halal-labelled meat is genuine.
The media reported that a meat cartel was believed to be involved in smuggling non-certified meat from China, Ukraine, Brazil and Argentina before repackaging them with fake halal labels at a warehouse in Senai, Johor.
Four govt agencies
CAP pointed out that there are four government agencies involved in the approval of the import of halal meat from other countries and that they have not explained to the public how non-halal meat could have escaped their supervision.
"Obviously the import of non-halal meat has been made possible due to corrupt officers of the agencies and fraud on the part of the syndicate. The government must take these matters seriously and make all those responsible accountable for their action," said Mohideen.
"One could not imagine such an unscrupulous practice is taking place in our country which is made possible through the corruption and malpractice.
"For a mere RM150 to RM300, this merchandise gets to elude the eyes of the enforcement officers involved," he added.
"We should take severe action against the smugglers of imported frozen meat and the government officers involved in corrupt practices as it concerns the Muslim faith," said Mohideen.
Earlier, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri said he would discuss the issue with the Department of Islamic Development (Jakim), Halal Jakim and several ministries and would consider setting up an RCI.
YOURSAY | The issue is not halal meats but bribery and corruption
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