The Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry has refuted claims that it had overspent on cooking oil subsidies last year.
Of the subsidised cooking oil quota of 60,000 tonnes per month, the ministry clarified that the expenditure on the commodity only reached the range between 88 percent and 99 percent.
“All expenses do not exceed the quota set by the government,” it said in a statement today.
However, due to operational purposes, the ministry said the government had to approve additional quotas to ensure a sufficient supply of packet cooking oil in the market.
“This is because packaging companies are unable to fully utilise the allocated quota as some are not operating, factory closure, damaged machines or the quota is suspended after being suspected of wrongdoing.
“The unutilised quota will be rationalised to be distributed to other operators to make up for the shortage.
“However, this additional quota does not cause the expenditure to exceed the set limit,” it said.
Official investigation
Malaysiakini previously reported sources as saying that the ministry’s secretary-general Azman Mohd Yusof had allegedly overspent on cooking oil subsidies last year, prompting an official investigation.
During the transition of government last year, it was understood that Azman had approved the subsidy totalling about RM9 million to over 20 companies even though the quota had already been exhausted.
In two letters sighted by Malaysiakini, Azman’s office gave approval to two of these companies on Nov 21 last year.
It says the government will supply the two companies with 150 tonnes of subsidised cooking oil per month for five years, pursuant to the application they made in April of that year.
The letters also show the two companies sharing the same address in Kuala Lumpur.
For context, the 15th general election was held on Nov 19 last year, but Anwar Ibrahim was not sworn in as prime minister until Nov 24. The first batch of 28 cabinet members was sworn in on Dec 2.
This entailed rebranding the ministry as the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry, with Salahuddin Ayub as its minister.
According to what appears to be an internal document from the ministry, the ministry’s officials have proposed reducing the subsidy of some companies this year to make up for the shortfall caused by the over-expenditure.
Another source claimed that the MACC has summoned several ministry officials including Azman for questioning.
As of the time of publication, attempts to contact Azman and the MACC for comments on the matter remained futile.
However, in the statement today, the ministry did not address whether Azman had the authority to approve applications before the formation of the current government.
‘Quota rationalisation nothing new’
On issues pertaining to quota cuts or rationalisation, the ministry stressed that it’s a normal process, saying it’s not the first time it’s been executed as.
“It’s done after taking into account current issues at hand - insufficient supply in the market, to ensure efficient distribution and to control the cost of living to protect consumers’ interests.
“It was implemented in 2018 and 2021.
“The study on rationalisation in 2022 was held due to leakages and the performance of cooking oil supply, as detected by the ministry under the orders of the Supply Controller,” it said.
Meanwhile, commenting on the issues related to quota approval to two companies registered under the same address, the ministry said checks on the Companies Commission of Malaysia revealed that the aforementioned companies are two separate companies with different shareholders. - Mkini
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