QuickCheck: Is a supermarket hoarding cooking oil in Johor?
23/04/2024 (The Star), Johor Baru - A consumer has accused a supermarket in Johor of hoarding subsidised cooking oil and selling the product to foreign workers in a viral video.
In the about three-minute clip, the person recording the video is heard in the background demanding the grocery's staff for an explanation after she was told that there was no cooking oil packaging in a 1kg packet, but she saw two foreigners holding two bags of the item with one of them telling her that he got it from an employee.
Is it true that the supermarket is hoarding cooking oil and only sells the item to foreigners?
Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry's Johor director Lilis Saslinda Pornomo said an investigation had been carried out based on the contents of the viral video.
“The supermarket's manager and the ministry's inspection team confirmed that the allegations, be it hoarding the subsidised item or favouring foreigners, were baseless," she added.
She said packets of the subsidised cooking oil were placed on open shelves in the supermarket.
Lilis Saslinda said according to the grocery, it was only supplied with 240 packets of the oil and this amount, she said, was insufficient given the size of the customer base of the outlet.
She urged unhappy consumers to lodge complaints with the ministry directly.
"If you only post it online, we worry that certain things may be destroyed by the parties involved and this will result in us failing to gather evidence for any wrongdoings," she told Sinar Harian.
She assured that the ministry would continue to monitor the supply of subsidised cooking oil as there have been numerous complaints from consumers about not getting the products.
Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali had earlier said foreigners are not barred from buying subsidised cooking oil in Malaysia.