Food supply sufficient for Deepavali, says Domestic Trade Ministry

KUALA BERANG: The supply of food and other essential items for the Deepavali celebration is sufficient, said Deputy Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Rosol Wahid.

He said the assurance was given to him by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (MAFI) during a meeting between the two ministries recently.

He added that the goods include chicken and egg which are said to be experiencing a supply issue, especially in the east coast states.

"We did receive complaints about the shortage of eggs and chicken in Terengganu and Kelantan. As such, we are hoping that MAFI can make good on their assurance for the sake of the people,” he said after launching the Deepavali Festival Maximum Price Scheme here today.

He said that the supply shortage of eggs and chicken in the east coast was believed to be due to prolonged enforcement of maximum price control by the government and supply sources coming from the west coast.

Following that, he hoped that the Special Task Force on Jihad Against Inflation can immediately meet to discuss a solution to the problem that has been a burden on the public.

"We have received information from the industry claiming that the government was controlling the price for too long. It caused the industry to be affected thus causing issues in the supply of chicken and eggs.

Meanwhile, 14 items including live and standard chicken, super chicken, grade A chicken eggs, grade B chicken eggs, grade C chicken eggs, and bone-in imported mutton have been listed under controlled items for the Deepavali celebration, effective Oct 20 to 26.

"Other items that are also listed are tomatoes, red chilies, coconut, grated coconut, shallots, imported large onions and lentils,” he added. - Bernama