SIBU, May 29: A random check conducted by enforcement officers from the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) here has found that there were no instances of panic buying among the people as the Movement Control Order (MCO) comes into effect today and is scheduled to last until June 11.
KPDNHEP Branch Head, Kelyn Bolhassan said through monitoring and observations carried out at various shopping premises, the situation was under control.
“There are people doing their shopping but there is no panic buying,” he said.
However, he reminded the public to stick to the shopping time limit of two hours, which is part of the standard operating procedures (SOP) during this MCO period.
With the Gawai Dayak celebrations just around the corner, it was found that there was an adequate supply of goods.
“I would like to advise the public to buy only what they need and buy with prudence,” he said.
His branch, he said, would conduct daily monitoring to ensure that the town does not run out of daily necessities.
Meanwhile, he said a total of 10 types of goods have been categorised under the Sibu Division Gawai Dayak Maximum Price Scheme (SHMMP) from May 28 to June 3.
They included live chickens, standard chickens (slaughtered and cleaned with legs, heads, liver and gallbladder or any part thereof), super chicken (slaughtered and cleaned without legs, head, liver and gallbladder), grade A chicken eggs (weight between 65.0 grams to 69.9 grams each), grade B chicken eggs (weight between 60.0 grams to 64.9 grams each), grade C chicken eggs (weight between 55.0 grams to 59.9 grams apiece), live old chicken, chicken wings, pork (stomach) and pork (meat and fat).
“The implementation of this scheme is to curb unreasonable price increases by traders under Section 21 of the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011,”he said.
Kelyn warned that stern action would be taken against any traders who raised the price of these items during the seven day period.
Individual traders can be fined up to RM100,000 the court or a jail sentence of not more than three years or both, or a compound fee of RM50,000 while for companies, the fine is RM500,000 or compound fee of up to RM250,000. — DayakDaily
