By: Zaki Salleh
TELUK INTAN: A store clerk’s refusal to sell subsidised cooking oil packets, citing that they were out of stock, aroused suspicion in Teluk Intan.
Cooking oil packets are a price-controlled subsidised item in Malaysia. Acting on public complaints, enforcement officers from the Perak branch of the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) inspected the store.
During the inspection, 13 one-kilogram packets of cooking oil were discovered hidden inside a trash bin in the store’s storage area.
Perak KPDN Director Datuk Kamalludin Ismail stated that the operation was carried out based on a tip-off and undercover surveillance.
“This action is part of our effort to combat the misuse and hoarding of controlled items like subsidised cooking oil by retail stores,” he explained.
“When an undercover officer attempted to purchase the cooking oil, the clerk at the counter claimed it was out of stock. Following this, a team of uniformed enforcement officers conducted a thorough search of the premises,” he said.
As a result of the discovery, the store supervisor was issued a stock declaration order under Section 8 of the Control of Supplies Act 1961.
The case is now being investigated under the same Act, which carries a fine of up to RM1 million upon conviction.
