Packet cooking oil shortage in Kedah not as critical as in Kelantan
ROSHILA MURNI ROSLI
ALOR SETAR - Shortage in one kilogramme (kg) cooking oil packets in Kedah is still happening, but the situation is not as critical as in Kelantan.
Consumer Association of Kedah (Cake) president Mohamad Yusrizal Yusoff said the crisis often took place at the beginning and the end of the month.
"This happens while the cooking oil repackaging company gets a new quota which will last for two to three weeks before the same problem happens again," he said when contacted by Sinar Harian today.
He said Kedahans had gotten so used to the recurring circumstance of having to deal with oil ration by traders.
"In Kelantan, it may be due to the lack of supply for too long that consumers have to buy bottled oil besides many of them could not afford it," he said.
Yusrizal suggested that in order to overcome the problem, the government should increase the supply quota to poor states such as Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.
"The income of the people in these states especially the rural areas was low, so they cannot afford to purchase bottled cooking oil which is much more expensive," he said.
Meanwhile, grocery shop worker Cheong Ting Wei, 38, said they had to limit the 1kg packet cooking oil for each customer.
"If it is not controlled, there will be customers who will not be able to buy it, so if somebody comes to the shop only to get cooking oil, we usually won't let him," he said.
He said the supplier would send 50kgs of cooking oil per week, but it was still insufficient to cover customers' demand.
Meanwhile, a survey at a supermarket here also found that the purchase of packet cooking oil was limited to 2kgs per customer.
