By DayakDaily Team
SIBU, Sept 18: Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Dato Seri Tiong King Sing has urged the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry (KPDN) to hold off further action against rice wholesalers here until it establishes where the supply problem started.
The Dudong assemblyman said more than 17 members of the Sibu Rice Wholesalers Association had reportedly received penalty notices from KPDN enforcement officers.
Tiong said he had raised the matter with KPDN Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali and called for the entire rice supply chain to be investigated instead of focusing solely on wholesalers.
“Do not keep focusing on the wholesalers. They obtain their stock from suppliers, so the authorities must establish who the suppliers are and where the problem started,” he said in a statement today.
According to the association, the 5 per cent broken white rice in question was supplied to wholesalers by upstream suppliers, with some consignments allegedly arriving with insect infestation and impurities such as stones and sand.
The wholesalers claimed they had to clean and reprocess the rice to meet food hygiene standards.
However, the cleaning and reprocessing could increase the amount of broken rice, resulting in a product that differed from the specifications stated on the original label.
Tiong said if the rice had already been compromised before reaching the wholesalers, KPDN should investigate the suppliers and other upstream parties before penalising businesses further down the supply chain.
“Those who break the law should be dealt with. I am not asking for anyone to be protected.
“But the authorities must first investigate the suppliers, the supply of rice and the subsequent handling process. It should not be limited to action against wholesalers,” he said.
He stressed that wholesalers should face action if they were found to have committed an offence, but said enforcement must be based on the findings of a full investigation.
“If wholesalers are found to have committed an offence, then action should be taken according to the law. But if the issue began upstream, the investigation must continue until the real cause is identified,” he said.
Tiong also called on KPDN to verify the association’s concerns over the rice sampling process during enforcement.
The association claimed enforcement officers took only one sample and did not retain another for independent retesting, which it understood should have been done.
Tiong said KPDN should establish whether the sampling process was properly conducted and ensure the investigation was fair and transparent.
He also called for affected traders to be given a reasonable explanation and an avenue to appeal.
KPDN had previously said enforcement involving rice content, type and labelling was conducted under the Trade Descriptions Act 2011.
The ministry also said it had strengthened its standard operating procedures for handling rice samples and exhibits to ensure evidence collected could be used in court.
Tiong said enforcement should ultimately resolve the problem, protect consumers and ensure legitimate businesses were treated fairly.
“Only by tracing the source can we properly resolve issues involving rice quality and the supply chain. Otherwise, people may be fined while the real problem remains,” he said. — DayakDaily
