Ministry evaluating proposal on extending Keluarga Malaysia Sales Programme

Its Deputy Minister, Datuk Rosol Wahid, however, said this depended on the budget given to the ministry.

"To implement this programme we need to have several strategic partners who are committed, so far we thank the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries and 196 strategic partners (for participating in the programe). In the rural areas, we are looking for ways to deliver this programme," he said during the question-and-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat today.

He was replying to a question from Datuk Rubiah Wang (GPS-Kota Samarahan) who asked if there was a proposal to maintain the programme, especially during festive seasons.

The Keluarga Malaysia Sales Programme, which started on Dec 2 last year and is scheduled to end this month, aims to help alleviate the cost of living of low-income consumers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the flood disaster in the country.

It offers consumers the option to get a variety of daily necessities at prices 20 per cent lower than the open market.

Meanwhile, answering a separate question from Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis (Warisan-Kota Belud) on the issue of lack of subsidised packaged cooking oil, Rosol said KPDNHEP was implementing various initiatives to curb misappropriation and smuggling of subsidised cooking oil.

He said this included surveillance on manufacturers, packers, wholesalers and retailers with selected targets suspected of misappropriating subsidised cooking oil.

He explained that so far, 15 packaging companies have had their Cooking Oil Stabilisation Scheme (COSS) quota suspended while Controlled Substances Act (CSA) licences of five cooking oil wholesale companies had been suspended.

"As of March 17, 2022, KPDNHEP conducted 6,955 inspections on premises involved in cooking oil transactions, 25 investigation papers were opened and 94 premises are still under audit," he said.

Replying to a supplementary question from Chan Foong Hin (PH-Kota Kinabalu) on the expected amount of subsidy borne by the government to maintain the cooking oil subsidy this year, Rosol said it was estimated to be more than RM2 billion compared to RM1.9 billion last year.

"There is a proposal to slightly increase the price (of packet cooking oil) to RM3, but the proposal needs to be evaluated carefully to ensure that in the current difficult times, it does not increase the burden of the people ," he said.