PETALING JAYA: Blaming middlemen for the high price of vegetables or other goods is not always right as sometimes, they are merely being made scapegoats.
Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) president Datuk Dr Marimuthu Nadason said blaming them seems to be the easy way out.
“It must be remembered the country imports nearly RM1 billion worth of agriculture products. Prices will go up and down depending on the cost of imports. To put the blame entirely on the middleman is not the answer.”
He said the government needs to step in to help farmers by developing the required infrastructure, providing finance at low interest and offer other help farmers need to be successful.
Marimuthu added that the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) should be aggressively helping farmers by marketing their produce and ensuring it is sold.
“The government must help farmers sell their produce by guaranteeing a minimum price for it. By helping farmers, prices will come down. But currently, there is no proper agriculture policy that provides such help.”
He said a comprehensive agriculture policy is needed to help farmers and ensure they do not have to rely on middlemen, who are presently important to farmers who need help marketing their produce. Middlemen also provide credit and pay cash for the produce they purchase, and this contributes to farmers’ reliance on them.
Consumer Association of Penang (CAP) president Mohideen Abdul Kader said before playing the blame game, the government needs to find out which parties are responsible for the high prices of vegetables.
“There have been reports of vegetable cartels. So, are they or the middlemen to be blamed for high prices?” he said, adding that going after the sellers was not the answer as they are at the end of the distribution system.
“The country has a high import bill and relies on imported produce. There should be a comprehensive study on why the nation needs to import produce that can be locally grown,” he added.
“The problem in Malaysia is when an issue is hot, everyone joins the bandwagon to comment. But after a month or so when another issue crops up, the plight of farmers is forgotten.”
