Umno Youth chief urges PM to think twice about Madani rice, says may only benefit cartels

PETALING JAYA: The proposal to introduce Madani rice, which will combine local white rice and imported rice under one category, will affect the pricing of the staple, says Dr Akmal Saleh (pic).

The Umno Youth chief said the Madani rice will eliminate the sale of white local white rice.

“If the Madani rice is sold, traders will no longer sell local white rice priced at RM26, they would likely sell the one being priced at RM30 because it is more profitable.

"This is despite the padi farmers keeping their prices at the same level.

“This is why I wanted to advise the Bukit Gantang MP (Datuk Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal) to be more cautious before making any statements without any research. Do the necessary research before calling the media or issuing a statement.

“We have been championing against cartels, who have been mixing local and imported rice, which ideally we should be against, but it seems we are now allowing it,” he said in a video posted on his social media on Sunday (Feb 18).

Akmal urged the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to advise the MP about being cautious when making any official statement so that it does not affect the public.

Recently, Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz said the government will introduce a single category for white rice to replace local and imported white rice in the country's market, known as Malaysian Madani White Rice.

He added that the government will also set a ceiling price for white rice at RM30 for 10 kilograms (kg) of rice, while RM15.50 (5kg) and RM3.50 (1kg).