PETALING JAYA: The "awkward" announcement of the Malaysia Madani white rice package by the National Action Council for Cost of Living (Naccol) shows the government is not taking cost of living issues seriously, says Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee.
The Beluran MP and former agriculture and food industry minister, said the announcement by Naccol task force (food cluster) chairman Datuk Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Faisal was clumsy from an administrative standpoint and was not in line with the law.
"In general, a task force does not make the decision, but they only provide suggestions to the steering committee, which in the case of Naccol is chaired by the Prime Minister," said Kiandee in a statement on Saturday (Feb 17).
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The Perikatan Nasional lawmaker also asserted that the Madani white rice pricing, as proposed by Syed Abu Hussin, goes against the Control of Padi and Rice Act 1994 which has set the price ceiling for local super grade mixed rice between RM1.65 to RM1.80 per kg.
Under Syed Abu Hussin's proposal, a 10kg bag of Madani white rice would cost RM30, an increase from the price ceiling under the Act.
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"Hence, any wholesaler, manufacturer and retailer that sells the Madani white rice is violating this Act," Kiandee said.
Syed Abu Hussin, who is also the Bukit Gantang MP, had previously said the Madani white rice package would be introduced on Feb 19 and expected to be available in the market from March 1.
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However, Agriculture and Food Security Ministry Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu later said the Madani white rice package still needed Cabinet approval while Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government would only finalise price controls for rice during Naccol's special meeting next week.
Anwar said he was confident they could find a solution to reduce the price of rice and subsequently alleviate the burden on the people.
Kiandee said since the last Dewan Rakyat session, Perikatan MPs have urged the government to review the retail prices of local white rice to coordinate with the retail price increase of imported white rice.
"It is about time because the retail price of rice and paddy was last reviewed in 2008," he said.
