BERA – Airline companies are reminded not to make excessive profits by raising ticket prices to Sabah and Sarawak during the festive season, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He said based on media reports, flight fares to both states during this festive season increased by up to 500% during the festive season and he described the increase as “extreme”, as people had no alternative other than to fly.
As such, the prime minister said he had asked Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi to investigate if there was any violation of the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 in the ticket price increase.
“The ministry must be firm against any party, no matter big or small company, that makes excessive profits under the law...immediate action must be taken to safeguard the interests of the people. We will not allow traders to take advantage of the festive season or fasting to pressure the people,” he said.
Ismail Sabri said this in his speech when opening the Pasaraya MG CoopMart, which is owned by Koperasi Pekebun Kecil Daerah Bera Bhd (Kopbera), and the “Semarak Ramadan Keluarga Malaysia” sale for the Bera parliamentary constituency here today.
Also present were Entrepreneur Development and Cooperative Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar, Angkatan Koperasi Kebangsaan Malaysia Bhd president Datuk Seri Dr Abdul Fattah Abdullah and Kopbera chairman Tahzir Husain.
Ismail Sabri said he had also asked Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong to resolve the matter with the airline companies and that a meeting had been held with the parties involved.
The issue of costly flight tickets to Sabah and Sarawak became a hot topic this week as the prices displayed on airlines’ websites was said to have increased to RM2,000 for return flights, which is an increase of 566% compared to the usual price of about RM300 for the same trip.
In another development, Ismail Sabri said the special committee meeting to address the cost of living, to be held this Friday, would study proposals by several ministries, especially the Domestic Trade Ministry, to ensure no indiscriminate increases in the prices of daily necessities.
On the setting up of supermarkets by cooperatives, the prime minister said he hoped to see more cooperatives dominate the retail chain business, as this would break the middleman system and help reduce the prices of goods for the benefit of consumers.
He said this could be realised considering the huge number of cooperatives in the country and their close cooperation, which enables them to be involved at the production, distribution, wholesale and retail levels.
On the move to eliminate the role of middlemen, the prime minister, who is also Bera MP, said efforts to do so have been ongoing since 2014 when he was the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister.
“I launched the ‘jihad’ because we know the one who determined the price is the cartel, comprising the middlemen and so on.
“At that time, I saw how difficult life was for fishermen...how they risked their lives going, leaving their homes after the Ishak prayer to the sea in the dark night and then returning after dawn, while the middlemen waited by the beach for the catch brought in by the fishermen, but the ones who got more profit were not the fishermen.
“This is because the middlemen bought their (fishermen) catch at a cheap price and consumers also lost because they had to buy at a higher price,” he added. – Bernama, April 17, 2022
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