Include Gawai, Kaamatan in cheap sale campaigns — Rep
KUCHING: The dates of cheap sale campaigns fixed by the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism should include the seasons of Gawai Dayak and Pesta Kaamatan, which are celebrated by the natives in Sarawak and Sabah, respectively.
According to Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong, the three nationwide cheap sale periods – March 1 to 30, June 15 to Aug 31 and Nov 1 to Dec 31 – arranged by the ministry do not include the two festivals.
Officially, the natives of Sabah celebrate Kaamatan on May 3031, while the gazzetted date for Gawai Dayak is on June 1-2 every year.
“The natives of Sabah and Sarawak are not enjoying the cheap sales during the periods fixed by the ministry. This is very unfair. It means that the federal government is not sensitive towards the needs of the natives in the two states and for ignoring their rights as consumers,” she told reporters at a press conference in DAP headquarters here yesterday.
She was commenting on the amendment to the Trade Descriptions (Cheap Sale Price) Regulations 1997 made by the ministry’s enforcement division director Roslan Mahayudin who said, among other things, that the number of cheap sale campiagns would be reduced from five in the past to four beginning next year.
Three of the cheap sale dates would be determined by the ministry, while the date of one sale would be chosen by the business operators themselves.
Yong called on the ministry to review the policy to allow business operators choose their own dates to split over the whole year for the benefit of local consumers.
She said the ministry’s policy would only benefit foreigners; allowing them to shop here and not paying the Goods and Service Tax (GST) because of the rebate, but not for locals.
“When the announcement was made, I noticed that much of it concentrated on foreigners,” Yong said, hoping that the ministry would take into account the local consumersandnotpassastringent policy particularly during this economic downturn.