Sabah sweetens Hari Raya season with increased filtered white sugar production

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s filtered white sugar production has increased for the Hari Raya season.

Domestic Trade and Costs of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said this additional supply was due to a strategised plan to increase the production of filtered white sugar for the festive season.

“Sugar supply in Sabah increased to 6,980.32 metric tonnes (MT) in March, as opposed to 5,156.34MT in February and 4,781.52MT in January,” he said after visiting the Sazarice Sdn Bhd at the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) II here, Tuesday (April 9).

This visit is to check on the sugar stock in the state during the festive season.

The ministry is aiming to send in a total of 6,119.80MT of sugar throughout Sabah, and 190MT to Labuan, Armizan said.

The first shipment via sea departed on April 3, and measures are taken to ensure that a consistent supply is available to meet market demands, he said.

“We are working with all networks including manufacturers, supplies and traders. The ministry is also working closely with the port authorities to facilitate the handling of supplies and approvals for controlled goods coming into the state,” he said.

Armizan said nationwide, there are only two main local sugar producers – Syarikat Malaysia Holding Berhad (MSM) and Central Sugar Refinery (CSR) and the process is only done in peninsula Malaysia.

This is why additional initiatives and proactive measures are needed to increase the sugar supply stock and maintain a stable supply chain for Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan, he said.

So far, the ministry has worked with 25 main sugar suppliers for MSM and 13 suppliers for CSR, tasked to distribute filtered white sugar to all licensed traders statewide.

There are also a total of 161 dedicated retailers (DDR) and 89 dedicated wholesalers (DDW) appointed and monitored as benchmarks if there is any shortage of sugar supply, every day, Armizan said.

On related matters, he said the ministry, under its Ops Kristal since early this year, has recorded a total of 18 cases of breaches under the Controlled Supplies Act 1961 between Jan 1 and April 5.

The ministry has also received a total of 17 complaints about shortage of sugar problems in the market between Jan 1 and March 31, he said.

“The issues were resolved almost immediately,” Armizan said.

He urged the public to give their cooperation and to file in complaints or reports on related matters via WhatsApp at 019-848 8000 or 019-279 4317; http://eaduan.kpdn.gov.my; call centre 1-800-886-800 or the Ez ADU KPDN smartphone app.

They can also contact the Enforcement Action Centre (ECC) at 03-8882 6245 / 6088.