Tuesday, June 24, 2008

GLC for essential goods?

2008/06/24
Dewan Rakyat:

By : V. Vasudevan, Eileen Ng, Joseph Sipalan and Ili Liyana Mokhtar


Datuk Mustapa Mohamed says country can overcome the food crisis.
Datuk Mustapa Mohamed says country can overcome the food crisis.

THE government is mulling the possibility of engaging or setting up a government-linked company (GLC) to be one of the main distributors of essential goods.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad said his ministry was considering such a move as it had lost Pernas and Lembaga Padi Negara, which were responsible for ensuring adequate supply and distribution of rice.

"The matter is still under consideration. We may implement this to ensure essential items reach the target group of low-income earners in urban and rural areas," he said in reply to Hamim Samuri (BN-Ledang).

He said enforcement officers from his ministry conducted more than 28,000 spot checks on shops from June 9 to 16.

Twenty shops were found to have contravened the Price Control Act and Trade Description Act.
"We've confiscated items totalling RM9,952.81 and issued RM1,150 in compound notices."

Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed expressed confidence that the country would be able to overcome the food crisis, including the supply of rice.

He said generally, the country had taken steps, such as increasing the stock of rice from 92,000 tonnes to 500,000 tonnes.

"Perhaps in some areas, there are some small problems but on the whole, we have been successful in tackling the problem

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