PM to meet cost of living council on Dec 9, Anwar questions slow action

 

PARLIAMENT | Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim today criticised the government for its slow action over the rising prices of goods.

This comes after it was revealed that Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob will meet with the Cost of Living Action Council on Dec 9 to discuss holistic methods to handle the rising cost of essentials.

“The situation is dire, the crisis is becoming more serious, but the meeting is only to be held on Dec 9.

“This seems like negligence and wrong prioritisation from the government, because even though many steps are said to have been taken, including importing 200 containers of chicken, the truth is that the steps taken are not effective at all,” Anwar (Harapan-Port Dickson) said in the Dewan Rakyat today.

This issue has already been raised for a while, he said, and as such, the government should be mobilising their agencies to take immediate action.

Anwar (above) had directed his question at the prime minister during the minister’s question time today, asking what immediate steps the government was taking to handle the crisis of rising prices.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economic Affairs) Mustapa Mohamed had earlier said in his reply that Ismail Sabri will chair a meeting of the council on Dec 9.

He pointed out the various steps the government had already taken to mitigate the rising prices of goods, such as mobilising officers to monitor the prices of goods daily in 1,500 premises nationwide as well as starting the price control scheme earlier for the Christmas season.

The government had also allocated RM31 billion in subsidies, aid and incentives, including for products such as petrol, cooking oil and flour.

In response, Anwar listed the prices of several grocery items in several cities in the country, such as the prices for red chillies.

For example, he said it was RM35 per kilo for red chillies in Kuching, which is the most expensive throughout Malaysia.

Complicated issue

Mustapa said the government was aware of the exorbitant prices as read out by Anwar, and they acknowledge the frustration felt by the rakyat.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economic Affairs) Mustapa Mohamed

He clarified that Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi had already met with the Cost of Living Action Council twice last year and another three times this year.

The rising prices of goods is a complicated issue, Mustapa said, and is caused by many factors such as import, the margin of profits, weather and cartels.

“All of these will be examined by the government in the meeting that will be held this Thursday (Dec 9),” he said.

Anwar stressed the importance of having a cabinet discussion on this matter as Alexander had already previously said the issue cannot be resolved by his ministry alone.

“That is why I asked, why is the Cost of Living Action Council meeting only being held on Dec 9?

“And when will the cabinet committee meet? Because this matter involves many ministries,” the Port Dickson MP said.

If there are many factors causing the rising prices of goods such as cartels and monopolies, Anwar said the government should be resolving those issues.

“Why do we not have the capability, the strength, the willingness to take action?

“If it is true, as said by the minister about the cartels and monopolies, cartels are a problem in everything, in politics and in the economy,” he said.

Mustapa reassured Anwar that the cabinet has already discussed this issue many times and urged for patience as the government will strive to announce its next steps after the meeting on Dec 9. - Mkini