The Sabah Daily Express reported that Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (KR1M) in the state is selling products at prices higher than the market price based on a recent survey. More importantly, this survey isn’t conducted by any opposition member, but by Sabah Umno Youth, led by Haji Hafez Yamani Datuk Seri Musa.
This survey discovery is shocking because the Federal Government has promised Sabahans and Sarawakians cheaper goods in the 2013 budget with the opening of 57 KR1Ms in East Malaysia. The Budget presented in 2012 allocated RM87 million for set up these 57 shops, costing an average of RM1.53 million each!
As a comparison, in the 2012 Budget, RM40 million was allocated to subsidise Mydin to set up 85 KR1M stores in Peninsula Malaysia, where each store will average RM471,000. There was already a massive difference of RM1.06 million for each store set up. One can also only wonder why it cost a extravagant RM1.53 million to set up a simple KR1M grocery store?
The above does not yet include a separate RM279 million budget for a “price standardisation programme” to ensure cheaper goods in East Malaysia, out of which approximately RM100 million is allocated for Sabah.
Hence it was not surprising when launching the Inanam KR1M a year ago, the Sabah Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun boasted that “prices at the KR1M are at least 40 to 50 per cent lower than that of regular shops so that all Malaysians can afford to shop there.”
The Minister added that “It is a very good effort by the BN government to help the people… As long as you have the 1 Malaysia logo it is cheaper so ordinary people can come and buy things which they would normally say is expensive but here they can buy it.”
The shocking reality now is that despite subsiding RM1.53 million to open each store, RM279 million of price subsidies for East Malaysia, UMNO members themselves discovered that the goods sold in KR1M were actually more expensive that other shops which received no subsidies, incentives or support from the Government?
Dato’ Seri Hasan Malek, the Minister of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism must immediately explain, assuming the Sabah UMNO Youth team did their maths right, why are the prices of products sold in KR1M more expensive than the other non-subsidised stores?
The Minister must provide full accountability for the RM87 million spent to set up these stores, and who received the monies. Dato’ Seri Hasan Malek must also explain how the RM279 million of “price standardisation programme” has been carried out and how the subsidies were distributed to the rakyat. Are these monies all distributed to Mydin to set up these stores and ship the subsidised products to the states?
We hope that Dato’ Seri Hasan Malek won’t tell me that “no one has complained” and hence “the rakyat must be fully in support” of the programme because even Sabah UMNO is complaining about the prices charged in KR1M. Most importantly, Dato’ Seri Hasan Malek must explain why, despite the massive subsidies, Barisan Nasional has once again failed to fulfil its promise of substantially cheaper goods to the people.