PETALING JAYA: The Penang Hindu Association (PHA) has urged the relevant authorities to take immediate action to address the shortage and unauthorised sale of cooking oil above the ceiling price.
Its president P. Murugiah said besides rising prices of food at eateries, the costs of staples such as cooking oil, eggs and poultry are also increasing and retailers are blaming this on supply-chain disruptions.
He said disgruntled consumers are getting angrier by the day as their buying power shrinks. The PHA is constantly receiving complaints over the matter, he said.
“PHA has received complaints from consumers alleging that a substantial amount of subsidised cooking oil is being channelled by retailers to food-related industries, restaurants and hawkers, who are said to be repacking and selling it at higher prices.
“Some are even illegally smuggling the oil to neighbouring countries for a hefty profit.
“We have also received complaints from consumers that some retailers are selling polybags of cooking oil above the ceiling price of RM2.50 per kg.”
Murugiah said the PHA visited B40 families living in low-cost flats at the Rifle Range in Macallum on Jalan Zainudin and Farlim, as well as residents of similar flats in Butterworth and Bukit Mertajam.
“The feedback we received is that subsidised cooking oil is rarely found in shops located near the flats. As such, they are forced to purchase branded cooking oil that costs between RM8 and RM9 per kg.
“They also said that some grocery shops have been selling subsidised cooking oil at between RM3 and RM3.50 per 1kg polybag.”
The association also found that many poor families have been reusing the same cooking oil until it had turned black.
It is concerned about the situation as the consumption of such recycled cooking oil can cause serious illnesses such as inflammation of the liver, cancer and heart attacks due to its high toxicity.
“PHA urges the relevant authorities to take immediate action to address the shortage of subsidised cooking oil and its unauthorised sale above the ceiling price.
“The ministry should closely monitor the supply of subsidised cooking oil so that it reaches domestic consumers and not be diverted to food industries and other businesses to gain illegal profits.”
Murugiah also urged the government to ban the export of seafood to Singapore as it re-exports fish sourced from Malaysia.
He said according to Fisheries Department deputy director-general Mohd Mohtar Mahamud, RM1 billion is spent annually on importing fish to cater to domestic demand, with most of it coming from neighbouring countries.
Checks by the association revealed that some grocery shops have been selling subsidised cooking oil at between RM3 and RM3.50 per 1kg polybag. – SYED AZAHAR SYED OSMAN/THESUN
