BY RAIHANAH REDUAN & NEVILLE TIMOTHY SANDERS
KUCHING: A total of 563 inspections has been carried out in Sarawak as part of the nationwide enforcement of the ban on the sale and purchase of one-kilogramme polybag cooking oil to non-Malaysians.
The inspections form part of 13,564 checks conducted nationwide since the ban was implemented on March 1. So far, no offences have been recorded in Sarawak.
The monitoring initiative was introduced by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN). Malaysians are allowed to purchase a maximum of three packs of the subsidised cooking oil per day.
Deputy Minister, Senator Datuk Dr Fuziah Salleh, said purchases are recorded through a digital system.
“There are currently 3.5 million Malaysian users of the e-Cost mobile application, which can track whether an individual has purchased the maximum three packs for the day,” she said during a press conference at Emart Matang here today.
She added that the monitoring mechanism has helped reassure the public as it ensures subsidised cooking oil benefits local consumers.
“We are also in the process of collaborating with the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to develop a database to record purchases using the identification card (IC), which we expect to implement around the middle to the end of this year,” she said.
Meanwhile, the government has also launched ‘Ops Pantau 2026’, which runs from February 19 to March 20, as a proactive measure to monitor the supply and prices of essential goods throughout Ramadan and ahead of the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration.
“We are currently conducting ‘Ops Pantau 2026’ to monitor unreasonable price increases, and enforcement will be carried out under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 (Act 723),” she said.
Fuziah stated that as of March 12, a total of 52,375 inspections had been conducted nationwide under the operation, resulting in 1,045 cases being recorded.
“Of these, 829 on-the-spot compounds (KOTS) were issued involving a total compound value of RM222,500.
“In Sarawak, 4,838 inspections were conducted during the same period, which led to 53 complaints and 142 cases being recorded,” she said.
Fuziah then added that authorities also issued 115 on-the-spot compounds against traders who committed offences.
“Inspections at Ramadan bazaars nationwide recorded 16,820 checks, with only 10 cases detected so far, including two cases in Sarawak.
“Two cases were recorded in Penang, two in Terengganu, two in Perak, one in Negeri Sembilan and one in Putrajaya,” she added.
Consumers are encouraged to channel information on any irregularities involving goods to the government via e-aduan@kpdn.gov.my.
