THE government will sell food and goods cheaply in a twice-monthly Keluarga Malaysia sale to help people cope with rising living costs, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi said today.

Additionally, enforcement officers will also conduct price checks on 1,500 outlets selling essential goods, he told the Dewan Rakyat. 

“And as prices usually spike during the holiday seasons, the government will start the festive control pricing scheme (SKHMP) earlier, ahead of the Christmas season,” Alexander said during minister’s question time.

The dates of the sale, he said, will be announced soon, but it will begin on December 4 in all 222 parliamentary constituencies.

“This will be done twice a month and the government will ensure that prices will be 15-20% lower than the market rates.”

He said that the government is also considering allowing the importation of processed chickens to overcome a shortage.

“I’m told that the Agriculture and Food Industry Minister (MAFI) has suggested allowing the importation of chickens from processing factories that have been (checked) by the Veterinary Department, to stabilise the price of chickens,” said the Kapit MP.

On price checks to be conducted by 1,000 enforcement officers, Alexander said 480 items will be checked for excessive pricing.

The minister was responding to Lim Guan Eng (Bagan-PH) who asked what the government was doing to address price hikes.

Last week, Alexander’s deputy, Rosol Wahid (Hulu Terengganu-PN) had brushed aside price hikes as mere “hearsay”. 

“We have tried to verify the information provided by the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP), which cannot tell us where these drastic increase in vegetable prices are.

“It is merely hearsay,” he said during the ministry’s winding-up speech on the Supply Bill 2022. – November 30, 2021.