Chicken wings fiasco: Early reports indicate slight breach of standard operating procedure — Customs DG

KUCHING: Preliminary reports from investigation on the disposal of chicken wings by the Customs Department near Bukit Aup in Sibu have shown that there may be a slight breach of standard operating procedure (SOP).

This was disclosed by its director- general Datuk Indera Subromaniam Tholasy who stressed that the department was taking this issue seriously and would be taking action upon receiving the completed investigation reports.

“I have appointed an investigation team (to investigate if there was a breach of procedure) and if there are elements showing that our officers did not follow the SOP, then stern action will be taken.

“But based on preliminary reports I’ve received, there is probably a slight breach of the SOP so I would have to look at this from various angles in terms of the involvement of officers as well as appointed contractor,” he told reporters when met after launching the Customs Blue Ocean Strategy 3.0 ( CBOS 3.0) Operation at Wisma Kastam here yesterday.

He was asked to comment on the latest development from the Customs’ internal investigation on whether there was a breach of procedure in disposing of the seized chicken wings near Bukit Aup on March 30 and 31.

Subromaniam said following the formation of the investigation team, he gave them two weeks to complete the investigation.

“Once I have received the full investigation reports, then I will comment further on the matter.

“For now, we’ll just have to wait until the investigation has been completed as the investigation team has to contact a lot of people and take statements from them at the moment,” he said.

The chicken wing fiasco first came to light last week when photos and videos on social media showing villagers in and around Bukit Aup scavenging for the buried chicken wings went viral.

This has led the Customs Department to fess up to the improper disposal of the staggering 81.5 tonnes of chicken wings with Customs duty of RM543,706.30 and import duty of RM108,742.86.

Acting state Customs director Ahmad Zainudin Drahman then had told a press conference that the chicken wings, which were imported from The Netherlands, were confiscated by the Customs Department from Putrajaya at the Rajang Port in Sibu on Feb 23 because they were imported without permit.

He had also said that everything (from the seizure to burial of the chicken wings) was handled by the Customs Department from Putrajaya and the state Customs Department had no knowledge on the disposal.

The chicken wings have since been reburied at the Kemuyang landfill in Sibu last Thursday (April 6).