BENTONG, October 3 – Anyone taking advantage of hiding rice stocks will face legal action, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. According to him, enforcement agencies have been directed to take action against those involved. I told Mohamad Sabu (Minister of Agriculture and Food Security), clear instructions have been given to the enforcement agencies that if anyone misbehaves during a time when people are having difficulty finding rice, hiding it, you watch out, we will find you, sue you, and take you to court.
“When people are in need, at that time, you want to profit,” he said during the Mega Perpaduan Madani PRK DUN Pelangai campaign speech in Simpang Pelangai here on Monday. Earlier, while speaking at the Felda Everything Carnival in Felda Chemomoi, he assured that the government would not raise the price of local white rice (BPT) in the country despite the trend of rising rice prices in neighboring countries due to the issue of a shortage of imported white rice (BPI). He, who is also the Finance Minister, announced an additional subsidy of RM400 million was allocated by the government for all government premises, including hospitals, to use imported rice as a measure to increase the supply of local rice in the market.
Meanwhile, the Farmers’ Organization Board and Fama have been deployed to assist in the immediate distribution of rice supplies if there are delivery problems. That’s why we’re trying. Are we sure it’s 100 percent resolved? No, because it’s a serious problem. So, I say, give it a week to see how it goes. If it’s not resolved yet, we will discuss action before the Budget on the 13th of the month, he said.
