The Penang Hindu Association (PHA) has expressed concern over the misuse of subsidized cooking oil by irresponsible parties who are allegedly reselling it as prayer oil at much higher prices.
According to the PHA, subsidized oil sold at RM2.50 per litre was found to be remarketed as prayer oil at a rate of up to RM8.20 per litre with a price increase of more than 228%.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the PHA informed that this issue is not new, in fact the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) has previously arrested several traders for the same offence.
One of these was the case involving the arrest of a man in Johor in January, after he was found to have repackaged 5,100 bottles of subsidized cooking oil to be sold as prayer oil.
In this regard, the PHA urged the KPDN to tighten monitoring and conduct a thorough inspection of the source of supply and the price of prayer oil sold in houses of worship and retail premises.
In addition, PHA also recommended that the Cooking Oil Price Stabilisation Scheme (eCOSS) system be implemented comprehensively to track the flow of subsidised oil from factories to retailers. This measure includes requiring traders to clearly state the source and original price on the labels of prayer oil products sold.
Following this revelation, PHA stressed that firm action must be taken immediately to stem the continued leakage. Failure to address this issue not only undermines the integrity of the country's subsidy system, but also opens the door to consumer exploitation in the name of religion.
