KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister (KPDN) Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali dismissed allegations of unfairness regarding the Rahmah Sales programme, which purportedly was exclusively organised in government parliamentary areas.
He clarified that the initiative encompasses all Parliamentary constituencies, and the schedule is accessible on the KPDN website.
"We plan our events well in advance, allowing us to determine the locations and dates of Rahmah Sales programmes in each Parliamentary area for the following month. This portal enables people to conveniently plan which events they would like to attend.
"This also demonstrates our sincerity in showing that the Rahmah Sales Programme and the Payung Rahmah Initiative as a whole are national agendas not solely dedicated to specific parties," he said during KPDN's winding-up debate on the motion of thanks for the Royal Address at the Dewan Rakyat today.
He mentioned that a total of 6,870 Rahmah Sales Programmes were organised throughout the past year, comprising 3,053 indoor premises, 685 outdoor premises, and 3,132 mobile programmes.
On a separate matter, Armizan emphasised that KPDN has conducted inspections on 6,806 business premises nationwide and issued 380 notices through Op Kesan from March 1 until yesterday. These notices were issued to traders who had raised prices, mandating them to respond within four days of issuance.
Op Kesan was conducted to monitor the impact of the service tax rate increase from six to eight per cent, which took effect on March 1.
Commenting on KPDN's measures to ensure price stability in the market, Armizan said that 900 price monitoring officers were deployed to inspect over 400 types of goods covering 1,500 premises daily.
"More than 2,200 enforcement officers also conduct continuous inspections and enforcement to ensure price stability in the market and ultimately ensure there is no element of profiteering," he added.
Regarding allegations of a cartel in the country's rice industry, he confirmed that the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) has initiated an investigation based on a report lodged on the matter, under the Competition Act 2010.
— Bernama
