Fama ready to market cooking oil if supply shortage persists

RAWANG: The Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) is ready to market cooking oil to consumers through its retail outlets across the country if the supply shortage of the item persists.
Its chairman Tan Sri Badruddin Amiruldin said the measure was taken to ensure that people including traders would not face any problem in getting enough supply of cooking oil.
"We had experienced the sugar supply crisis before and the government had distributed sugar supply to us to be sold at our retail outlets including the farmers' markets (pasar tani).
"If the current cooking oil shortage in the market continues, Fama is ready to market and distribute cooking oil if the government decides we should do so," he said when closing the Kuang state constituency-level "myBeST Buy" programme, here, today.
Badruddin said beginning yesterday, Malacca Fama had started selling cooking oil at several farmers' markets in the state and received overwhelming response from consumers.
In MALACCA, the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry (KPDNKK) had inspected 1,060 premises selling cooking oil from Oct 20 until today.
Malacca KPDNKK director, Jaiya Abu said of that total, 16 complaints on cooking oil gone out-of-stock or shortage of supply mainly involving 5kg bottled cooking oil were received.
The Malacca KPDNKK will not compromise with traders found hoarding cooking oil and will take legal action against them under Section 16 (a) of the Control of Supplies Act 1961.
In KELANTAN, Pasir Puteh parliamentary constituency agriculture development council chairman, Datuk Zawawi Othman said the movement of foreign fishing boats around Tok Bali Port should be monitored as they could be used to smuggle out subsidised goods especially cooking oil to other countries, causing supply shortage for local consumers.
"This (smuggling activity) has been the tradition for decades but yet there has been no tighter monitoring by the relevant authorities to curb it," the Semerak assemblyman told reporters when met at the Kampung Pulai Lima Uthmaniah Complex, here, today.
In JOHOR, a Bernama survey found that food sellers in Johor Baru had no intention of raising the prices of food despite the simultaneous increase in cooking oil and fuel prices which came into force on Tuesday.
A check at several eateries including at Anjung Selera Larkin today found that most food sellers there accepted the decision to raise cooking oil and fuel prices with an open heart, but hoped the government would take all the necessary steps to ensure the situation would not last for long.
One of them, Nurshahduan Abd Rahman, 35, said the increase in cooking oil price might not have an impact on his family business for the near future as his supplier was still selling the item at the old price.
"The question is for how long can (the supplier) go on like this, we don't know. But we will not raise the prices of food at the moment as we understand the burden borne by customers," said Nurshahduan who has been selling "nasi campur" since 1995.
In KEDAH, the state KPDNKK office seized 55,000 litres of diesel and 18,000 litres of petrol worth RM135,000 in a raid at an industrial area in Bukit Kayu Hitam, near Alor Star, this morning.
Kedah KPDNKK chief enforcement officer, Shahrudin Hamzah said the raid was conducted about 11am by a team of officers from Alor Star and Kubang Pasu, following two weeks of intelligence work.
"We found the items in two separate places (located next to each other)," he told a press conference, today.
Following that, he said, a lorry driver and a warehouse supervisor were arrested for failing to produce a retail licence to sell controlled goods. — Bernama