KUCHING: Retailers are not allowed to insist that their customers must buy additional items should they (customers) merely want to buy sugar only.State director of Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Ministry (KPDNKK) Wan Ahmad Uzir Wan Sulaiman warned that any retailer caught indulging in such a practice could be charged under the Control of Supply Act (1951) in which the maximum penalty is RM100,000.
He said there was no law in the country which states that a customer must buy other goods in order to buy sugar – which is a controlled item in Malaysia.
“I admit that it does happen and it is wrong under the law … and we want customers to report to us so that we can charge the retailers under the Control of Supply Act,” he said.
Uzir said this yesterday when commenting on the sugar issue in Serian which was highlighted on the front page of The Borneo Post last Saturday.
Serian MP Datuk Richard Riot Jaem had expressed shock upon learning that there was a shop in Serian which insisted that their customers must buy other goods if they wanted to buy 2kg of sugar.
“I’m shocked. All the shops said they had run out (of sugar) except for one shop which insisted customers (to) buy other goods if they wanted 2kg (of sugar),” said Riot.
Touching on the shortage of sugar in Serian, Uzir said it was a temporary problem caused by a delay at the wholesalers end.
“Generally, this temporary problem happens in many parts of the state and not confined to Serian alone … (the cause is) wholesalers couldn’t send sugar to the retailers on time,” he said, adding that 158 metric tonnes of sugar was sent to Serian yesterday.
Uzir disclosed that sometimes wholesalers were reluctant to supply sugar because the retailers had yet to settle their debts.
“In addition to this, wholesalers also send supply based on their schedule and, therefore, if there is a shortage in one area the customers have to wait before it is their turn to get the supply.
“However, after the (Serian) incident, we have stationed our staff at the wholesalers’ offices (in Kuching) to monitor the movement of sugar supply. And whenever we receive information that one area has no sugar, we will contact our staff to ask the wholesalers to supply sugar to the area,” he said.
Uzir said wholesalers must comply with the ministry’s instruction because they could be charged under the Control of Supply Act (1951), with a maximum penalty of RM100,000, if they refused to follow instructions.
He also blamed panic buying by consumers in Serian for aggravating the temporary shortage of sugar.
However, a coffeeshop operator in Serian, when contacted yesterday did not agree that panic buying was the cause of shortage in the town.
“How can there be panic buying when sugar had not been readily available even at 2kg per buyer for many weeks already? Panic buying is when you see people rushing to the shops and queuing up whenever the town’s weekly 10 tons sugar supply arrives. But there is no such thing here – no long queues, no pushing and shoving for sugar because the sugar never gets to be properly displayed.
“The enforcers must go to the ground and find out for themselves why Serian doesn’t have enough supply when a town just across the (Malaysian-Indonesian) border from Tebedu has plenty of sugar but selling at up to RM4 a kilogramme.
“It’s not enough for the authorities to ask consumers to report questionable practices by retailers, or to offer excuses like retailers are owing wholesalers, therefore wholesalers stop supply. If that really happens then that’s when the authorities should withdraw the licences of such retailers.
“Enforcers must go to the root of the problem to appreciate why the shortage is not going way,” the operator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.