SHAH ALAM: The implementation of the maximum retail price for standard chicken at RM8 per kg through the Ehsan Food Prices Intervention Programme will be extended to include other food items.

       It will also be expanded to all districts, said Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari adding the state executive council would meet today to decide on how to implement the programme.

       “The initiative received a very good response. Once the 50,000 chickens allocated for the programme for these two weeks are sold, we will decide whether to extend it for a maximum of four months.

       “This intervention cannot be for too long and not for the whole year. We are implementing this programme to ensure that the people are not burdened by (escalating) food prices,” he told reporters after the Domestic Variable Loan (Education) offer letter presentation ceremony here yesterday.

       Through the expansion of the programme, Amirudin said, the state government would provide business subsidies to all traders, including those not under the umbrella of Selangor Agricultural Development Corporation (PKPS).

       In a separate development, Amirudin said he would need to get information from the engineering and technical divisions first regarding claims that sand mining activities around Bestari Jaya, Kuala Selangor were the cause of floods in the area.

       The state government is currently building catchment ponds to prevent floods, he added.

       “I will take this (sand mining activities causing floods) into account first. I want to see whether that really is the cause and we will take follow-up action.

       “Otherwise, we will continue to build catchment ponds and clean up the surrounding areas that have been abandoned for so long,” he said.