By Siti Rohaizah Zainal
CYBERJAYA, Oct 30 — The state government is targeting to increase the number of locations for the Program Selangor Agro Market (SAM) by next year, as part of the efforts to assist traders to augment their income.
State exco for agro-based industry Izham Hashim said they were trying to double the existing number of locations to 100 sites, before the movement control order began.
"To date 31 locations have been opened throughout Selangor for the SAM programme, involving 465 entrepreneurs and RM350,000, as of this October.
"We will hold detailed discussions with several quarters on how to increase SAM's performance and the farmers' markets," he said after a visit to a SAM site at Taman Tasik Cyberjaya earlier today.
Izham was accompanied by Sepang Municipal Council president Datuk Abd Hamid Hussain and Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA) Selangor board director Aiaida Abdul Rashid during his visit.
The exco said that SAM's function differs from farmers' markets, as it meant for direct entrepreneurs including farmers and manufacturers to market their products.
"SAM marketing sites differ in that they do not require large amounts of space, and sell cheaper produce," he said.
The programme is a collaboration between the state government and FAMA, which began three years ago and involves the implementation of 87 locations in nine districts in Selangor, with a sale value of RM5.2 million.
