KEPALA BATAS: There is a local rice cartel involving four to five companies in this country which acted to control the buying and selling of rice, leading to a shortage of the staple food in the market and increase in prices.
National Action Council on Cost of Living (NACCOL) Task Force (Food Cluster) chairman Datuk Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal said the information was obtained from engagement sessions with rice farmers, millers, wholesalers, retailers and consumers.
Therefore, Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz said he will present the matter at the NACCOL meeting on March 20 so that the government can take serious action against the companies involved
“These companies control up to 80 per cent of the local rice market. The cartel buys rice at a high price of up to RM1,850 per tonne of rice and then raises the price of rice.
“In fact, some of these companies sell local rice in imported rice packages, this is a cartel action that causes an unstable ecosystem of rice and rice prices,“ he told reporters after attending the Northern Zone MADANI Activists Breaking Fast Ceremony at the Penang Golf Resort. here tonight.
Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz, who is also the Member of Parliament for Bukit Gantang, said that the findings of the involvement in dealings also showed that the cartel was also influencing rice farmers by offering higher rice prices and at the same time put pressure on consumers with increased rice prices.
He said he will also present at the NACCOL meeting regarding the proposal to grant a subsidy of RM200 to rice farmers for every tonne of rice sold to millers so that local rice can be sold at a price of RM30 for a 10-kg bag of rice.
“The farmers want a price of RM1,700 for each tonne of rice and we don’t want to disturb the consumers of the high local price of rice, that is if the price reaches (RM1,700) the price of rice sold is RM35 per 10 kg but the milliers can only buy at RM1,500 so I suggest that the government subsidise RM200 (per tonne of rice) so that rice can be sold at RM30 per 10kg bag,“ he said.
