PETALING JAYA: The price control on rice will be one of the main topics on the agenda at the national cost of living action council’s (Naccol) meeting next week, says Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar said the meeting had to be postponed to next week so that the matter could be discussed, as it is of utmost importance, Bernama reported.
“We are postponing the Naccol meeting to next week, where we will decide on the controlled price for rice,” he was quoted as saying.
“Although the price cannot be very low, I’m sure it can be reduced. We have to look into where the supply comes from, who are the contractors, and how much profit they are making,” he told reporters following an event in Bukit Mertajam, Penang.
He also warned middlemen against profiteering from the sale of rice.
On Wednesday, Naccol’s food prices committee chairman Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal announced that the government will introduce the Malaysia Madani white rice priced at RM30 for a 10kg sack from March 1.
Syed Hussin said the price of a 5kg sack of Malaysia Madani white rice will be set at RM15.50 while a 1kg bag of rice will be priced at RM3.50.
The retail price for local white rice is RM2.60 per kg as stipulated under the Control of Padi and Rice Act 1994 (Act 522).
Syed Hussin said the Malaysia Madani white rice will be the sole category of white rice in the country as Putrajaya had agreed to abolish the local white rice and imported white rice categories.
He claimed that some rice manufacturers mixed local white rice with imported white rice and sold them as expensive rice brands to gain extra profit, adding that the ceiling price for the Malaysia Madani white rice could stop such manipulative practices.
