KUALA LUMPUR: The uproar surrounding the shortage of cooking oil packets and local rice in the market has not subsided and people will have to brace themselves to face a potential shortage of sugar.
Mydin Mohamed Holdings Berhad (Mydin) managing director Datuk Dr Ameer Ali Mydin said that the international market price for sugar which is a basic necessity has already begun to rise.
"After the shortage of local white rice, the next crisis is expected to be sugar. There are price controls in place for sugar which is RM2.85 for 1 kilogramme (kg). However, the price of sugar on the international market has gone up to between RM3.60 and RM3.80 for 1kg (for a 50kg bag). Logically, if the price is different, there will be leakage.
"Now itself there are some supermarkets and retailers who are limiting the purchase of sugar to five packets per customer. And when there are restrictions, this means there are problems already," he told Harian Metro.
According to him, he has called on the government and the relevant government ministry and department to take the appropriate action immediately before the problem worsens.
"The government needs to do something as soon as possible. What is the point of selling something cheap when there is a shortage, leakage?" he questioned.
