PUTRAJAYA: The government wants local authorities and state governments to reduce rental rates for small businesses, particularly hawkers and petty traders, to ease rising cost pressures.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said this follows growing concerns over the financial strain faced by small-scale traders, many of whom operate from premises owned by local councils and government-linked agencies.
"The first step within our means is to reduce rental rates," he told a press conference here on Tuesday (May 5.
"Most of these premises are owned by government-linked companies or agencies such as Mara and Uda Holdings, which from this month will begin reducing rental rates for all small business premises under their management.
"This (rental rates) also falls under the jurisdiction of local authorities and state governments, and I urge them to act swiftly, with reductions taking effect this month, to ease the financial pressure faced by these traders."
The Prime Minister also instructed that the Madani Rahmah Sales Programme be expanded in all states on a weekly basis as part of ongoing efforts to reduce the cost of living.
He said the initiative, which is managed by the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry, has helped the rakyat buy essential goods at up to 30% below market rate.
"Last year, the government implemented more than 25,000 Jualan Rahmah programmes across all state constituencies in the country.
"I would like this to be implemented immediately, and we have announced 30,000 programmes for this year.
"This means an expansion in scale to cover all state constituencies, held at least once every week, allowing buyers to know where goods are available on fixed days and schedules.
"We also want to ensure that the programme is held not only in urban fringes but also in selected rural and village areas," he said.
He added that the initiative also aims to ensure that small businesses and traders are involved and benefit from it.
"We do not want this to become a platform for large companies, but to ensure that small traders have the opportunity to sell their goods at affordable prices.
"These efforts will not solve all the problems, but I believe they will help to ease current pressures.
"Through our weekly engagements and Cabinet meetings every Wednesday, we will continue to review and explore new measures to reduce the burden on the people," he said.
