PUTRAJAYA: The National Action Council on Cost of Living (NACCOL) has decided to implement the 100 essential goods initiative, which is to identify 100 essential products to be sold at cooperatives at discounted prices.
Among the items identified are rice, sugar, butter, oil, flour and bread, which was compiled by NACCOL after conducting surveys on consumer behaviour, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Wan Azizah at a press conference after chairing the third NACCOL meeting today.
She said the 6.1 million cooperative members throughout the country can participate in entrepreneurial, wholesale and plantation activities and send their products to cooperatives and by doing so, eliminate the middleman that drives up costs.
She also said the prices of goods during this festivities had gone down compared to last year.
“Based on the data collected, we have found that the average price of goods have gone down; like the price of chicken dropped to RM6.80 from RM7.42 last year, imported beef is at RM20.40 per kg compared to RM24.29 per kg and dried chillies are at RM14.13 per kg compared to RM19.50 last year,“ she said.
“We are also expanding our Qfish programme nationwide as fish is an important food in our diet. It will use individual Quick Freezing technology to determine the quality and freshness of the fish,“ she said.
Wan Azizah also said the council is looking to streamlining all service charges at land transport terminals throughout the country and re-evaluating the price for Electronic Train Services (ETS).
The Transport Ministry had received the green light from the council to streamline prices of all goods and services at all land terminals and to check and amend ticket prices for the ETS.
“We’ve noticed that many public land terminals have different charges and fees for their services and we want to streamline this,“ said Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
The NACCOL welcomed five new members, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Darell Leiking, Attorney-General Tommy Thomas, Jeli MP Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamad, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation CEO Surina Shukri, and Malaysian Youth Council president Jufitri Joha.
