Domestic trade and consumer affairs minister Alexander Nanta Linggi said since November 2016, the cooking oil subsidy had been restricted to the 1kg polybag package and not for others.
He said this was enforced through the Cooking Oil Stabilisation Scheme (COSS) then and this was not something new.
“The purpose of the government to maintain the subsidy for cooking oil for the 1kg packet is to ensure that the people can still get the supply of cooking oil for household use at an affordable price of RM2.50 per kg,” he said in a statement today.
Yesterday, Zahid had lashed out, saying that the movement control order (MCO) and the emergency had led to traders increasing prices of consumer goods.
He cited the example of a 5kg container of cooking oil being sold at RM28.50, adding that it was sold previously for between RM19 and RM23.
“I just checked the price at a supermarket and it is being sold at RM28.50.
“If it is true, it is unfortunate for the rakyat,” he wrote on his Facebook.
Following this, social media users hit out at the government over the rising price of cooking oil, saying that the government was not concerned about the people’s plight.
Linggi also said that currently 60,000 tonnes of subsidised cooking oil is provided every month to be distributed nationwide, including rural areas, adding that the amount is sufficient for the use of Malaysians.
“The ministry is committed to ensuring the availability of subsidised cooking oil supply in the market through monitoring of cooking oil manufacturers and packaging companies, auditing of each cooking oil supply chain as well as conducting daily inspections at retailers, wholesalers and supermarkets,” he said.
Meanwhile, Linggi said a total of 477 business premises had been issued warnings to make immediate improvements in compliance with the standard operating rules for the MCO.
These are among the 321,850 business premises inspected by the ministry’s enforcement teams as of yesterday.
Linggi said those who failed to comply with the rules would be issued a compound fine of RM1,000 under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 324).