Armizan (right) inspecting sugar supply at Sazarice Sdn Bhd’s warehouse in the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park on Tuesday.
KOTA KINABALU (April 9): The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) sees the need to create a sugar stockpile to ensure that there is always supply of the sweetener in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan.
Its minister, Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali, said that although it would involve a high financial commitment to the government, it was seen as the most effective method to deal with sugar shortage.
“The decision on this measure will be known in the second quarter of this year (June) simultaneously with the decision on the implementation of the new price determination mechanism for sugar that will be announced by the government.
“Sabah and Sarawak currently have no sugar stockpile, therefore if there is a disruption such as shipping issues and others, sugar supply will be cut off since the production factory is located in the peninsula.
“So, we propose that sugar stockpile to be created in Sabah and Sarawak,” he said at a press conference after inspecting the sugar supply at Sazarice Sdn Bhd’s warehouse in the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) here on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Armizan said the sugar pricing issues and subsidies will also be decided next June.
“This is not easy, many things need to be considered. However, the appeal to raise the price of sugar by the two main producers was made since 2021.
“This is because the cost of sugar is very high. The world raw sugar cost data shows a 100 percent increase compared to before the Covid-19 pandemic and now there is a world sugar deficit,” he said.
He added the pricing issue would also address sugar smuggling following the low price in Malaysia compared to RM5 per kilogram in Indonesia and RM8.30 in the Philippines.
Armizan also revealed that the ministry has recorded a total of 18 cases of breaches under the Control of Supplies Act 1961 between Jan 1 and April 5 during its Ops Kristal.
The ministry has also received a total of 17 complaints on sugar shortage between Jan 1 and March 31, he said.
He urged the public to give their cooperation and to file in complaints or reports on related matters via WhatsApp at 019-848 8000 or 019-279 4317; http://eaduan.kpdn.gov.my; call centre 1-800-886-800 or the Ez ADU KPDN smartphone app.
They can also contact the Enforcement Action Centre (ECC) at 03-8882 6245 / 6088.
