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By P.Murugiah
The question of how best to control inflation and price increase is now back on the Madani Government’s economic-policy agenda. With existing rules and regulations to curb unreasonable price increases on essential goods, opinions are divided about how stringent these rules are applied by the relevant authorities. The mainstream consumers, especially the B40 group, are raising concern on the varying prices of the same goods at different outlets and are emphasizing on the need for tighter implementation of the existing price control rules. Based on the complaints received from the public on the irregular pricing of tomatoes at various outlets, Penang Hindu Association (PHA) carried out an independent survey on 30/04/2024 at different retail outlets in Penang. The shocking fact seen in the survey was that tomatoes were sold in a wet market at a whopping 250 per cent higher when compared to the prices of the vegetable at other retail shops.
The following are the pricing of tomatoes at 6 different outlets found during the survey.
1. JAYAM Spice Mart: RM1.40 per kilo
2. Sunshine: RM1.60 per kilo
3. Lotus: RM2.99 per kilo
4. Cecil Street Market: RM5.00 per kilo
5. Batu Lanchang Market: RM4.00 per kilo
6. Bayan Baru Market RM3.50 per kilo
Following this irregular pricing of the vegetable at Penang retail outlets, PHA hopes that the authorities from the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDNHEP) would conduct regular and unannounced checks on the vendors and retailers in order to regulate the prices of vegetables and other essential goods.
The survey also showed that most of the wet markets do not display the price tags of the vegetables sold. As such, PHA also proposes to the relevant authorities to strictly enforce the ruling that all retail outlets, including wet markets, to prominently display the latest regulated pricing of vegetables and other essential goods. PHA believes that vulnerable communities, especially the B40 group, need this support to protect consumers to avoid any unethical and irregular pricing that may adversely affect their purchasing behavior.
PHA would also like to remind consumers to always check the prices before buying the goods and to contact the KPDNHEP hotline if the prices were found to be inflated.
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