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SHAH ALAM – The Selangor government has allocated 50,000 chickens to be sold at a retail ceiling price of RM8 per kilogram starting Monday for a period of two weeks.
The initiative, known as the Ehsan Food Intervention Programme, will be implemented by the Selangor Agriculture Development Authority (PKPS) and the poultry will only be sold at premises owned by PKPS for the first phase.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari told reporters that the move was launched to ensure that the people of Selangor will have enough access to good quality fresh chickens at a reasonable price while not burdening the traders at the same time.
“The state administration welcomes the lowered ceiling price for standard chickens by 20 sen, down to RM8.90 from RM9.10 per kilogram by the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry.
“However, the price control mechanism under PKPS supervision can lower the ceiling price even further without involving high financial implications.
“Our main focus is to help lighten the burden faced by the public due to increasing food prices through government intervention.
“For instance, PKPS could decrease the ceiling price of chickens by reducing rental charges for chicken traders operating in the Selangor Wholesale Market,” said Amirudin.
In its first phase, the PKPS Ehsan chickens priced at RM8 will also be sold at two main markets – the Selangor Wholesale Market (Pasar Borong Selangor) in Seri Kembangan and at Wisma PKPS in Shah Alam.
The Sg Tua Assemblyman added that after the first week and depending on public response as well as requests from other state assemblymen or MPs, the programme might be expanded to other localities.
At the same time, each customer is allowed to only purchase two whole retail chickens per transaction.
“I do expect that there could be some form of difficulties faced by the public. There could be long queues or crowds or people trying to cheat others but some things might be out of our control,” admitted Amirudin.
He also stressed that the reduced ceiling price will not disrupt the poultry market.
Amirudin also gave his assurance that there is enough poultry supply for Ramadhan and Hari Raya, but the issue is managing the price, which the state government is actively addressing now.
PKPS has been allocated a budget of RM1 million to carry out the intervention programme where it covers subsidies, reduce rental rates and logistical support for the fresh produce’s supply chain.
The effort is expected to help control food prices in Selangor until the festive seasons are over.
Furthermore, the sale of cheaper high-quality eggs will also be implemented utilising the same price control mechanism. – The Vibes, February 5, 2022
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