PETALING JAYA: The government is expected to bear more than RM2bil this year to maintain the subsidised price for a 1kg polybag cooking oil, says Datuk Rosol Wahid.

       The Deputy Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister said last year, the cooking oil subsidy was at RM1.9bil.

       “This year, it is expected that it will be more than RM2bil. This is the burden that will be borne by the government to maintain this subsidy.

       “There is a suggestion to slightly increase the price (of 1kg polybag cooking oil) from RM2.50 to probably around RM3 due to the rising commodity prices.

       “But, such a suggestion has to be carefully scrutinised to ensure that we do not add on to the rakyat’s burden at a time when they are already struggling,” he said when responding to a question raised by Chan Foong Hin (PH - Kota Kinabalu) in Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (March 17).

       Chan had asked about the cooking oil subsidy borne by the government.

       Meanwhile, Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis (Warisan - Kota Belud) had also asked the Ministry to state the real cause of the shortage of the subsidised cooking oil and the government’s efforts to clamp down on the embezzlement and smuggling of cooking oil.

       On this, Rosol said there is a shortage of cooking oil in the market due to the low controlled price of RM2.50 for the subsidised 1kg polybag cooking oil.

       He said although the government had set for this subsidised cooking oil to only be purchased by domestic households, it is also being purchased by small and medium traders to reduce their operating business cost.

       “The purchase of cooking oil in large quantities is what has contributed to the shortage in the market,” he said.

       Rosol added that the shortage of the cooking oil is also due to smuggling to neighbouring countries by irresponsible parties to obtain more profits.

       “We also detected that there is decanting where these people take the subsidised cooking oil and transfer it into a bottle to sell it at a higher price,” he said.

       To combat these issues, he said the Ministry is taking the following measures such as inspecting and auditing at every stage of the cooking oil distribution chain; set purchase limit of three subsidised polybag cooking oil; and to suspend the quota and licences of companies found to be involved in the embezzlement and smuggling of cooking oil, among others.

       As of March 17, he said the Ministry has conducted 6,995 inspections on premises involved in the cooking oil business.

       Of the figure, he said 25 investigation papers have been opened and 94 premises are still being audited.

       “Currently, 15 packaging companies have had their Cooking Oil Price Stabilisation Scheme (COSS) quotas suspended and five wholesale companies have had their cooking oil trading licences suspended,” he said.