Steakhouse issues apology to Jakim over bribery allegation

TTDI Meat Point, a steakhouse in Taman Tun Dr Ismail has issued an apology to the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) over allegations that the religious body was purposely delaying its halal certification to get a bribe.

The explanation is made by the eatery on its Facebook page, which concede the difficulty in obtaining halal certificate was due to incompetency by a halal consultant which handled the application on behalf of TTDI Meat Point.

According to the restaurant, the consultant repeatedly returned its paperwork, citing failure to fulfill certain requirements.

The allegation of corruption against Jakim started on Sunday when a forum user questioned the reason behind TTDI Meat Point halal signage being taken down.

The eatery co-owner responded by sharing his ‘assumption’ that the difficulty in obtaining halal certificate is a sign of Jakim demanding bribery.

The allegation on a now-deleted Facebook post later went viral.

The restaurant has since explained that no Jakim official had asked for bribes.

The restaurant management is contacted by Halal Hub Department of Jakim and both parties have agreed to meet this week to clear the air.

"On behalf of TTDI Meat Point management, owners, family and the whole entity, we would like to send our deepest apology to the affected party especially JAKIM for making this huge assumption," it said on Facebook.