A notice found at an eatery in Kuching for prices of kolo mee and other dishes during the Lunar New Year festive period.
KUCHING (Feb 13): The prices of popular local delicacy ‘kolo mee’ and ‘kampua mee’ were found to cost more than usual during the Chinese New Year (CNY) festive period.
For example, a bowl of chicken kolo mee at a popular eatery in Serian was found to cost RM6 today compared to RM4 on normal days.
Elsewhere, a company manager said a bowl of kampua mee at an eatery this morning was priced at RM6, which was RM2 more than usual.
She also observed that the price for a plate of fried noodles was RM8 (usually RM6) while a glass of Kopi C kosong (hot coffee with evaporated milk but no sugar) was priced more than RM2 which was higher than usual.
An eatery at Jalan Wan Alwi, on the other hand, openly displayed a notice stating the price of kolo mee and other dishes have been increased, effective Feb 11 to 15.
When notified of this matter, Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) Sarawak director Datuk Stanley Tan warned sellers to comply with the law and not hike prices according to their whims and fancies.
He said any sellers found to hike prices can be issued with notice under Section 21 of the Price Control and Anti Profiteering Act (AKHAP) 2011.
“If there is a sudden price increase, notices under Section 21 of the AKHAP 2011 can be issued to the seller for them to provide us with information (regarding the price hike).
“They have to reply to the notice,” he said.
KPDNHEP Sarawak is also expected to come up with an official statement on this matter within the next few days.
According to previous news reports, sellers suspected of profiteering would be investigated and if found guilty could be prosecuted under Section 14 of AKHAP 2011.
Individuals could be fined up to RM100,000 or jailed not exceeding three years or both, and a second offence could attract a maximum fine of RM250,000 or imprisonment not exceeding five years or both.
If a company is involved, the directors or owners could be fined up to RM500,000 and a fine of RM1 million imposed for a second offence.
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