PM wants authorities to beef up enforcement on white rice supply

The Star

Speaking at the Finance Ministry’s assembly on Thursday (March 21), Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said all government agencies overseeing the supply of white rice must improve enforcement and monitoring work.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00 Although I do not deny that in the field, sometimes the price is high.

00:11 I saw a friend who commented to me,

00:14 the price of rice has fallen, the price of sugar has fallen,

00:18 the price of chicken has fallen compared to two or three years ago.

00:22 But the price of food has risen.

00:26 So this is perhaps a matter of power, perhaps a matter of monitoring,

00:30 and it must also be demanded of us to make adjustments and changes.

00:37 Two days ago, I held a meeting,

00:40 but we raised the issue of rice.

00:43 Isn't it strange?

00:45 When we saw that the price of rice has started to rise,

00:52 we knew that the price of sugar has fallen by two ringgit,

00:57 and the price of rice has fallen by one ringgit.

01:00 But it has not fallen in the past two years.

01:03 So, alhamdulillah, the price of rice has fallen by three ringgit.

01:07 It is half a ringgit, because the price of rice has fallen by two ringgit.

01:10 But in general, the price has fallen by two or three ringgit.

01:14 That is a lot for a regular consumer.

01:21 The price of local rice is around two or six ringgit,

01:25 but it is not in the market.

01:28 Although sometimes we receive reports that it is in the market, but it is not.

01:31 That day, I was in a program to sell Rahmah at Tempatan Pau, Sembawang, Jaya.

01:40 I asked the sister, Suz Dari,

01:44 why did you buy 30 ringgit of mixed rice?

01:50 She said, "It is in the market, but it is not in the market."

01:55 I said, "It is not."

01:57 She replied, "That is strange."

02:01 I said, "It is in the market, but it is not."

02:04 She said, "It is in the market, but it is not."

02:05 I said, "It is in the market, but it is not."

02:09 But when we emphasize in a meeting,

02:13 we must know the price of the rice.

02:18 And the government's decision,

02:21 all the needs of the army, police, school, ashram,

02:27 the government's central contract,

02:30 now, buy imported rice,

02:32 so that the cheap rice of Tempatan is still in circulation.

02:37 I don't remember how much, but it is big.

02:40 So when we emphasize that,

02:41 we finally know that there are around 150,000 metric tons of local rice

02:48 that can be exported.

02:49 It is not enough for everyone.

02:51 But if we put it all in the urban poor areas,

02:57 in the rural areas, in the inland areas,

03:00 through LPP farmers,

03:02 then at least,

03:03 for the majority of the people in the lower regions,

03:08 local rice is a must.

03:12 Sulhami Hamzah doesn't need to.

03:14 He uses imported rice, okay.

03:16 He can be forgiven.

03:18 Johan never eats local rice.

03:26 So this is an example of the action,

03:31 not just the report.

03:33 The report says, if you want to buy cheap rice,

03:35 local rice is available,

03:36 it is 26 ringgit.

03:37 If not,

03:38 imported rice,

03:39 and it is already 3 ringgit cheaper.

03:42 That is the basic.

03:44 But the implementation is not in the market.

03:47 So now,

03:48 it is sold,

03:50 it is added to the farmers,

03:52 and LPP,

03:53 so that there is no cost of rent and transportation.

03:56 So it can be kept at 26 ringgit.

03:59 [End of Audio]

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