Op Harga 2.0 begins nationwide
SEREMBAN: THE Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry kicked off Op Harga 2.0 yesterday to monitor prices of goods and act on businesses that indiscriminately raise their prices.
Minister Datuk Seri Hasan Malek said the operation would involve about 1,800 enforcement officers and 1,200 monitoring officers who would carry out checks at wet markets, grocery stores and restaurants.
"The focus is to check on price tags, prices of goods, and the equipment and apparatus used to measure and weigh items," he said after the launch of Op Harga at the Main Market here yesterday.
Hasan said for the operation to be successful, the public needed to play their role as well.
"In some cases when we conduct checks, some traders would replace the price tags to deceive our officers. This is a constant problem," he said, adding that it would be helpful if the public acted as the eyes and ears of the ministry.
He also urged the public to refer to the price list on the notice boards in wet markets to avoid being cheated.
Yesterday, 13 traders here were issued warning notices under Section 21 of the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act.
Hasan said the operation would go on until the ministry was satisfied with the results.
Hasan said the ministry had also set up a working committee to review the rules and laws that were said to be stringent by certain quarters.
"We are reviewing and researching the laws with the Attorney-General's Chambers, economists and consumer groups."
Under the previous Op Harga, the ministry compounded 463 traders this year for raising prices of items and failing to display price tags.
In Putrajaya, the ministry's Enforcement Department director Mohd Roslan Mahayuddin said the ministry had also set up consumer complaints counters at 100 markets nationwide and two officers would be stationed at each market to monitor the prices and to carry out enforcement.
