BUTTERWORTH: Consumers have been urged to report to the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry (KPDN) if any trader imposes conditions such as requiring the purchase of one kilogramme of premium white sugar first if they want to buy coarse granulated sugar.
Penang KPDN director S Jegan said the act of imposing such conditions was wrong and could be prosecuted under the Control of Supplies Act 1961.
He, however, said that thus far the ministry has not received any complaints regarding the matter and urged consumers to come forward if such an incident occurred so that enforcement could be taken against the errant traders.
“If there are traders who set the condition that to buy normal sugar consumers have to buy premium sugar first, then that is indeed wrong.
“There are also enforcement officers to conduct regular inspections at the premises to ensure that traders comply with the conditions, especially for controlled goods,” he said after launching the Festive Season Maximum Price Control Scheme (SHMMP) for Christmas here, today.
Jegan said a total of 174 enforcement officers and 64 monitoring officers were assigned to strategic locations such as public markets, farmers’ markets and shopping centres throughout the implementation period of SHMMP which began today until Dec 27, to enable more effective enforcement of complaints reported by consumers.
Meanwhile, from Jan 1 to Dec 19, a total of 46,079 premises throughout Penang have been inspected with 777 cases reported for various offences involving the seizure worth RM3.38 million, a compound of RM633,300 and fines amounting to RM24,000.
During that period, a total of 2,264 complaints were received, of which 861 related to the price of goods and services, 156 related to the supply of controlled goods and the rest were other matters.
“The Rahmah Sales programme is ongoing and a total of 470 sales have been held in 13 parliamentary constituencies and 40 state constituencies throughout Penang.
“A total of 483,350 visitors were recorded with total sales reaching RM16.5 million,” he said.-Bernama
