LABUAN: The prices of food here were unstable sometimes due to supply problems, Labuan member of parliament Datuk Rozman Isli said yesterday.
However, he said consumers could buy 17 controlled items at a lower and cheaper prices in conjunction with the Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
The prices of the items were controlled by the Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry (KPDNKK) for 17 days.
“Most of the listed items can be bought at prices of about 10 to 20 percent cheaper during the 17 days. I hope the sellers would observe the prices of controlled items during this festive season,” he said after launching the price control scheme here.
Rozman urged the government to clamp down on profiteering activities here so that the cost of living could be maintained.
The consumers must be wise in their spending and buy the cheaper products to give slight pressure to the market to reduce the prices of certain products, he said, adding that most of the food supplies came from Sabah and some from Peninsular Malaysia and also Labuan.
The acting director of KPDNKK office for Labuan, Aslani Dabi, said that their enforcement unit would go to the ground to check on stubborn’ traders who did not comply with the price control scheme.
He warned that traders who were selling the 17 controlled items over the maximum price could be fined up to RM100,000 or jailed up to three years, or both, or compounded up to RM50,000.
He said companies could be fined up to RM500,000 or compounded up to RM250,000.
Aslani also said traders who failed to put up the pink price tag for the controlled items could be fined up to RM10,000 or compounded up to RM5,000 while companies could be fined up to RM20,000 or compounded for RM10,000.