'Safety reasons not behind removal of KR1M products'

The 13 products recently removed from Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (KR1M) shelves are safe for consumption, the Dewan Negara was told today.

These were removed purely for technical reasons, claimed Tan Lian Hoe, the deputy minister of domestic trade, cooperatives and consumerism.

 

She described the technicalities as mislabelling of products and compliance requirements for ingredients.

 

None of the products were removed for safety reasons, she reiterated during Question Time today, adding that the suppliers have since acted on the problems identified.

PAS senator Mumtaz Md Nawi had raised the matter, as well as issues of survival for sundry-shop operators, who are finding it hard to compete against KR1M.

 

Tan said the operators are encouraged to sell 1Malaysia products.

 

She hit out at Pakatan Rakyat MPs for having pointed out deficiencies in the government-endorsed scheme, saying that they were uncomfortable with the idea of products being sold at 30-50 percent lower than the market prices.

Tan said KR1M would open 85 more outlets next year at a cost of RM40 million, with each outlet to cost between RM250,000 and RM83,5000, depending on the size.

She denied that the government was subsidising the scheme, saying that the only connection is that most of the outlets are located in premises owned by the government or companies linked to it.