The Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry has not ruled out that the sharp rise in poultry prices was due to price manipulation by retailers as the farm price remains unchanged at RM5 per kg while the supply is adequate.
Its minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the retail prices shot up to between RM8.50 and RM9 per kg although the ministry has fixed the ceiling price at RM7.80 per kg.
He said the demand for chicken was normally 1.2 million birds a day but increased to 2.2 million to 2.4 million a day nationwide during Ramadan through Aidilfitri.
The government has opened applications for chicken import permits to address the problem and theoretically dumping will reduce the price of goods, he told a news conference to announce Tekun Nasional winning the Best Innovation in Financial Services award in Karlsruhe, Germany.
He was commenting on a report that chicken prices have risen dramatically in many states for the past two weeks. He said there was an increase in demand for local chicken two months ago as China stopped exporting poultry following the H7N9 outbreak, but it has lifted the ban as the situation has returned to normal.
Meanwhile, the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry has urged all quarters not to make any speculation or claim that chicken prices have soared without any concrete evidence.
Its minister Datuk Hasan Malek said the ceiling prices of chicken at the farm, wholesale and retail levels were subject to the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011, which must be abided by retailers.
"Provide us with the proof and we will act on it. Action will be taken against unscrupulous traders if the claim is true," he told reporters after visiting a Ramadan bazaar in Presint 2 in Putrajaya yesterday.
Hasan said the price control scheme for the Hari Raya festive season will be enforced early next month.
Meanwhile, the Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM) has urged a boycott on chicken until the prices drop below the ceiling price.
Its chief activist Datuk Nadzim Johan said a boycott would push down the prices as suppliers and retailers would have to lower prices if demand plummeted.
A survey around Kuala Lumpur and Selangor found that supermarkets were selling chicken at about RM7.50 per kg, but the prices in farmers' markets shot up to between RM8.50 and RM9 per kg.
Housewife Siti Rohani Yaakob, 47, expressed hope that the government will take action to protect the welfare of the lower income group against errant traders who took advantage of the festive season to raise prices of goods, including chicken.
Rogayah Ahmad, 64, a mother of eight, said although the price hike was a norm during Ramadan and other festive seasons, she has no choice but to still buy these goods to cater for her family.
Police pensioner Abdul Aziz Yusuf, 64, said he realised chicken prices have soared since April, but did not expect them to reach RM9 per kg during Ramadan.
- Bernama
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