PENALISE ERRANT ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS FOR SUGAR SHORTAGE DEBACLE

PETALING JAYA (Malaysia), Aug 7 (Bernama) -- The Federation of Malaysian
Consumers Association (Fomca) Friday called on the government to take stern
action against errant enforcement officers who do not carry out their jobs
diligently.

Its secretary-general, Muhammad Shaani Abdullah, said such errant officers
were partly responsible for the present sugar shortage in the country.

"If they had carried out their jobs seriously they could have easily
pinpointed the causes of the shortage and taken immediate steps to normalise the
situation."

For example, he said, Perlis being the smallest state in the country
consumed about 10 per cent of the total country's daily production of 500 tonnes
of sugar.

"This alone should have given the enforcement officers an indication that
something was drastically wrong somewhere and they should have taken immediate
steps to probe why this was so and normalise the situation," he told Bernama.

"But sadly the situation was left to fester, resulting in such a big problem
now, where there is shortage not only in Perlis but also other neighbouring
states," he added.

Muhammad Shaani said the errant officers should be penalised as a lesson to
other officers so that such situation did not arise again.

He also called on the government to cancel the permits of errant
manufacturers, wholesalers and suppliers and blacklist them as a deterrent to
ensure that there was no shortage of not only sugar but also other essential
goods in view of the approaching festive season.
-- BERNAMA