THURSDAY-22 JANUARY 2009 - PORK EXPENSIVE THROUGHOUT STATE

PORK EXPENSIVE THROUGHOUT STATE

TAWAU:

Pork is not only expensive in Tawau but also throughout the State, said the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Department here yesterday.

Its Head, Mohd Fikri Lai Abdullah, said complaints by consumers that pork is the most expensive in Tawau were not true as a survey showed the price had also gone up considerably in Kota Kinabalu and other towns.

Fikri said as pork is not a controlled item, his department could not control the price but just monitor it.

To ease the burden of consumers. The price has been lowered from RM950 per pig to RM900 since January 20 this year.

Lt was learnt that pork price is normally fixed after a meeting among members of the Pig Farming Association in Sabah. Therefore, it depends on the consumers whether they want to buy It or not.

“There are three wholesalers in Tawau who have registered under the Sabah Farming Association; they are producing pork especially for the East Coast areas in Sabah like Kalabakan, Semporna, Lahad Datu and Tawau.

I just need to clarify that the local government has the right to issue the license to the pork wholesalers, and not our Ministry. The pork price increase may be caused by the high prices of corns and soya beans and higher labour cost,” Fikri explained to Tawau Member of Parliament Datuk Chua Soon Bui at his office here yesterday morning.

Many consumers in Sabah have complained that the high price of pork is unreasonable and it burdens them.

Chua disclosed that she will bring up this issue in Parliament and ask whether pork can be listed as a controlled item.