Chong Chieng Jen
KUCHING: Four more food and beverage (F&B) manufacturers in Sarawak have written in to the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry to apply for sugar import permits for the consumption of their respective factories, said Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Chong Chieng Jen.
In disclosing this, Chong said his ministry welcomes more F&B manufacturers to write in to the ministry to apply for the sugar import permits.
“For the application of the sugar import permits, any F&B manufacturer simply needs to write to the ministry and support it with information of the amount of sugar required annually for its production,” he said in a press statement today.
He noted that this was in line with the ministry’s new policy to liberalise sugar supply in Sarawak to help reduce the costs of production of food and beverages here.
“This is in sharp contrast with the previous monopolistic policy of Barisan Nasional where all local food and beverages manufacturers were compelled to buy sugar from only two sugar refineries in Malaysia, namely MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd (MSM) and Central Sugar Refinery Sdn Bhd (CSR).
“At the moment, the price of sugar supplied by sugar refineries in Thailand is less than RM2 per kilogramme (kg) (inclusive of transport) while the price of sugar supplied by the two refiners in Malaysia to Sarawak F&B manufacturers is approximately RM2.70 per kg.
“As such, huge savings can be achieved by the Sarawak F&B manufacturers with the grant of the sugar import permits.”
Chong, who is also Pakatan Harapan Sarawak chairman, said he regretted that Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) continued their campaign to smear and defame him on this liberalisation policy of the new government.
However, he believed that the SUPP’s “sabotage” of this new policy would not go very far as more and more F&B manufacturers start to apply for and get the sugar import permits.
“What SUPP is doing is only helping the two local refiners to continue to exploit Sarawak’s F&B manufacturers. This was what happened when BN ruled the country all these years.”
“As for the SUPP’s threat to lodge report with the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission on the new liberalisation policy and making the allegation of me receiving kickbacks, the SUPP is free to do whatever it wishes,” he added.
“However, if SUPP genuinely wants to know who the recipients are, the proper channel is to get the SUPP member of parliament or any of the GPS members of parliament to submit a question in Parliament. It is strange that having been in the government for so many decades, SUPP still does not know the parliamentary process of questioning the ministries.”
Chong wished to state clearly that notwithstanding whatever smearing and sabotage that SUPP was up to, the liberalisation of sugar supply policy would continue because this new government is against the monopolistic policies created by the BN or GPS governments.