Ministry to curb subsidised goods leakage in Sebatik Island
TAWAU: The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) is drawing up a comprehensive enforcement action plan to curb leakage of subsidized goods in Sebatik Island.
Its state deputy director, V. Ravichandran, said the ministry yesterday morning held briefings and dialogues with the people and residents of Sebatik Island on leakage issues on the island that extend beyond the national borders.
Ravichandran said the ministry had received a lot of information from residents and business operators there and had drawn up a comprehensive enforcement action plan to address the leakage of subsidized controlled goods in Sebatik Island.
He said Tawau KPDNHEP officers would also conduct checks on Sebatik Island and jetty in Tawau area and action would be taken against traders or individuals trying to smuggle out controlled items or create leakage in Tawau district.
Menawhile, Ravichandran said ‘Ops Catut’ 5.0 phase two saw 1,662 business premises being inspected covering 49,382 items in all stages from factories, wholesale and distributors to retailers.
He said the ministry received four complaints on price increase in Sabah, one in Tawau and three in Kudat and legal action had been taken.
On the Sales and Services Tax (SST), notices were issued to five businessmen in Kota Kinabalu, two in Tawau and one in Keningau for increasing the price of the items.
He said up to October 9, KPDNHEP had taken action against 940 business premises for various offences such as unmarked prices, no license to sell controlled goods, selling counterfeit goods and pirated goods, selling items that do not comply with the prescribed standards and Weights and Measures Act.
The total value of seizures, up to October 9, is about RM7 million and collected RM80,300 in fines in court. Compounds collected from 634 cases totalled RM224,353 and the rest are under investigation.