Umno Youth exposes modus operandi of rice cartel

SHAH ALAM - Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh has exposed the modus operandi of a cartel that uses broken rice as local rice as it could be sold at uncontrolled prices.

In his latest revelation, the Merlimau assemblyman said there was a difference between the super special local (SST) rice and broken rice.

"Because broken rice can be sold at uncontrolled prices, this rice cartel has sold standard rice at the price of broken rice.

"If the price of local rice is set at RM2.60 per kilogram (kg), this cartel has sold it at RM3.4/kg by changing the sales bill to match the price of broken rice.

"These are among the traitors who oppress the people," he said in a Facebook post today.

On Monday, it was reported that the Perikatan Nasional (PN) deputy Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad urged the government not to favour cartels in the issue of insufficient rice supply in the market but instead to choose to implement a monopoly or open market.

He said there were two options available which were to implement an open market to increase supply by opening many factories and wholesalers breaking the cartel's dominance and improving market competition.

Therefore, Akmal said the government has provided various subsidies to ensure that local rice was sold at low prices, but this action has betrayed everyone.

He said strict and comprehensive enforcement were needed and the rice and paddy board should be re-established.

"Don't think that we have no information about factories outside Melaka, luckily these factories are outside Melaka, if they were in Melaka, they would have been sealed. This is just the beginning, there will be many more revelations to come.

"As long as it involves the rights of the people, we will defend and fight for it," he said.