Last year , then Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Hasan Malek Hasan said turkey was not in the list of items under the festive price control scheme that time around due to some technical problems.
The so called technical problem was explained as such –The company which handles the import of the bird with a company from Australia has some technical problem, so we removed turkey from the price control scheme list this year, he said.
There was in fact a shortage of supply of turkeys last year.
This year, turkey has again been left out of the list. Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin explained a few days ago that it was due to due to poor demand and supply.
What exactly did he mean by poor demand and supply? What are the causes? Will there be sufficient supply this year? Have last year’s so called technical problems been solved?
Turkey is the traditional Christmas dinner menu for many Christian families. It is therefore insensitive and inconsiderate on the part of the government not to place turkey in the list of price controlled items.
It is unsatisfactory and insufficient for the Ministry to give a general reason like “poor supply and demand”.
The Minister must do his best to solve problems efficiently and not to offer excuses or unsatisfactory reason.
He should therefore immediately put turkey in the list of the price controlled items.