MYDIN Wholesale Emporium in Penang is hopeful that the current shortage of local white rice will be resolved by next week.
According to its branch manager Muhamad Emirol Ashraf, their suppliers have assured them they will expedite the distribution of local white rice.
“We have not received the supply of local white rice for about a month. Every day, we have traders and housewives enquiring about its availability.
“We’ve not obtained the SST (Super Special Tempatan) rice, but we have received some of the imported rice we had ordered,” Muhamad Emirol Asraf said.
He added SST rice, which is subsidised by the Government, is priced at RM13 per 5kg pack and RM26 per 10kg pack.
In contrast, the prices of imported rice have surged by an average of RM5 to RM11 in the past two weeks.
A check by Buletin Mutiara at Gama Supermarket and Departmental Store also showed that it had various imported rice on sale, but hardly any local rice on the shelves.
A section manager, who preferred to remain anonymous, explained that when news of the impending price increase for imported rice spread, many customers quickly purchased bags of local rice.
Even the subsidised 1kg packets of cooking oil priced at RM2.50 were in high demand.
Both Gama and Mydin adopted a strategy of limiting the sale of 1kg cooking oil packets throughout the day, following a recommendation from the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry officer. Despite the restrictions, the items would sell out in less than half an hour, prompting the stores to replenish their stock at different times.
Both Mydin and Gama, however, have no issues with the supply of eggs.
Meanwhile, Fahmi Zainol, the state executive councillor for Agrotechnology, Food Security and Cooperative Development, announced that Penang had received 30,000kg of local white rice yesterday as part of an intervention initiative by the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry.
He said this allocation, comprising 3,000 sacks of rice (at 10kg per sack), will temporarily address the shortage of local white rice supply in the state.
Under this initiative, individuals are permitted to purchase up to two sacks (20kg) directly from Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) outlets while traders have the opportunity to purchase up 10 sacks each.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Siti Nuratikah Rahmat