Sufficient supply of essential goods in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: There is no shortage of essential goods in Sabah, says state Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry director Georgie Abas.

Abas said enforcement officers had conducted a two-day inspection following the recording of Covid-19 cases in the state.

“Food and other basic goods are sufficient during checks at 31 markets, 13 hypermarkets, 106 supermarkets and retail shops.

“We also found that consumers were not panic buying,” he said yesterday.

Abas said nearly 300 officers and personnel had been deployed to check on the prices of goods statewide since Friday.

He said they would ensure the supply of basic necessities, including controlled items such as sugar, cooking oil and flour, was available and items were sold at its fixed price.

Abas said since January, they had checked 11,985 premises in urban and rural areas.

“We have seized RM236,235 worth of goods and issued compounds to 438 traders for various offences, including hiking prices.

“So far, we have collected RM69,420 in fines,” he said, adding that out of 395 public complaints, a total of 353 of them had been resolved while the balance was still under probe.

He warned traders that they would come down hard on profiteering activities amid fears of the virus outbreak.

Abas also urged the public not to resort to panic buying.

Following the first positive case of Covid-19 in Tawau, some supermarkets there were packed with people buying essentials.

A similar trend also occurred at supermarkets in other parts of the state.

So far, there were 15 confirmed cases in Sabah and two in Labuan.