A Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmaker has raised the question of whether the Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (KR1M) is charging more for household items than commercial hypermarkets.
Segambut member of Parliament Lim Lip Eng of the DAP claims that a price comparison between KR1M and Tesco outlets showed significant differences, with Tesco offering lower prices.
The KR1M chain of grocery stores is a Federal Government-owned initiative meant to offer groceries to Malysian consumers at a lower price than commercial supermarkets.
At a press conference held in front of a KR1M outlet in Jalan Raja Laut, Lim provided members of the media snapshots of price comparisons between goods sold in KR1M shops and Tesco, a popular chain of hypermarkets.
“I just showed you the proof. There are products that are more expensive, from less than 1% to more than 100% compared with those sold at the hypermarket,” he said, as quoted by The Malaysian Insider‘s Melati A Jalil and Low Han Shaun.
“How is it that bleach is RM1.29 in the hypermarket but RM2.60 in Kedai Rakyat 1 Malaysia? The prices here are supposed to be lower.”
Lim pointed out that Mydin, the budget retail chain contracted to operate KR1M shops across the country, had already lowered its prices last Friday, as part of a “price adjustment exercise”.
“If Mydin stores can reduce prices last Friday, why can’t they reduce prices in this special store (KR1M) catering to the urban low-income group… This morning, the prices are still the same,” he said.
Lim also took a jab at Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who recently made a call to Malay Malaysians to boycott “greedy Chinese traders” in order to bring down the price of goods.
“Based on Ismail’s logic, does he also want to encourage Malaysians to boycott KR1M?” Lim asked.
Photo: The Malaysian Insider
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