ALOR SETAR: The Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry (KPDN) is looking into mechanisms to track the distribution chain of subsidised cooking oil, including the use of batch numbers on each cooking oil packet, said Deputy Minister Dr Fuziah Salleh.
She said it is part of the efforts to curb leakage at the retail, wholesale, and packing levels and identify those responsible for the leakage.
“If there is a batch number on each packet of cooking oil, we would be able to trace the source of the leakage. This is just a suggestion and has not been implemented, but some companies have already started using it. Perhaps we can try it out, study it more thoroughly and this could be the solution to the cooking oil leakage,” she told reporters today.
Earlier, she conducted checks at two chicken processing factories and three retail premises in the Kota Setar district.
Meanwhile, Fuziah said that under the Kita Gempur operation in Kedah, the ministry inspected two chicken processing factories in Kepala Batas, where it was found that they were storing subsidised liquid petroleum gas.
“....79 subsidised LPG cylinders were being used. All the cylinders were confiscated, with the estimated value of the seizure being almost RM9,750.
“Additionally, we also confiscated 29 LPG cylinders at a retail store in Pantai Johor, here, with an estimated value of RM771. All these cases are being investigated under the Control of Supplies Act 1961,“ she said.
The Kita Gempur initiative is a strategic government effort aimed at building a mass movement to address issues of manipulation in business activities and leakage involving controlled and subsidised goods.
