Campaign launched to ease sugar shortage
Malaysiakini
Oct  9, 2006

Malaysia has launched an all-out campaign to overcome a severe sugar shortage as it embarks on a long festive season kicked off by Ramadan, mobilising the navy and opening a 24-hour hotline to contain public outrage.

Store-imposed rationing, scrounging around shops for sugar and panic-buying have become familiar activities in Malaysia in recent months, triggered by a shortfall the government says has been artificially created.

To overcome the crisis, Malaysia is importing some 80,000 tonnes of raw sugar from China and Brazil to cope with the coming months, when people binge on sugary foods. Local manufacturers have also stepped up production.

Adequate supplies of sugar are crucial for multicultural Malaysia, particularly in the month of Ramadan, when Muslims break their daily fast with an array of traditional food including cakes and syrupy drinks.

After that comes the Muslim Eid al-Fitr celebration, the Hindu Deepavali festival and Christmas.

Malaysians consume a monthly average of 85,000 to 87,000 metric tonnes of sugar, which spikes to over 100,000 tonnes during festive months.

The government, mindful of the problem, has ordered navy vessels to help deliver sugar to the eastern states of Sabah and Sarawak.

Progressive recovery

Shops have been ordered to stop rationing, and the government has set up a round-the-clock hotline to register supply problems, guaranteeing sugar will be delivered to areas reporting shortages within 24 hours of a complaint.

The deputy director-general of enforcement for the ministry of domestic trade and consumer affairs, Iskandar Abdul Halim, said Malaysia had made an "80 percent recovery" from its sugar shortage in recent days.

"There are still areas in the peninsula which are still affected by the sugar shortage but we are in the process of recovery," he told AFP.

The crisis began early this year but the government has maintained that Malaysia produces enough sugar to meet domestic demand.

The country produces 90,000 tonnes monthly, matching consumption.

But Malaysia's sugar is among the cheapest in the region, triggering cross-border smuggling and mass sales to neighbouring countries.

Wholesalers and retailers have been accused of hoarding sugar in order to profiteer from the high prices, while businesses have kept large stocks for fear of not having enough to last to the end of the year.

One of Malaysia's four sugar producers also sparked a shortfall by dropping production in August to retain supplies for the festive period.

A quickfire plan

Manufacturers worsened the situation by making more lucrative fine sugar, rather than fixed-price coarse household sugar.

The government's explanations have failed to soothe Malaysians infuriated by the shortage, which was made critical with the advent of Ramadan.

"There should have been a plan in the first place to make sure a huge sugar shortage like this does not occur," said parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang.

"When it happen they immediately should have taken action to ensure that the whole problem is nipped in the bud," he told AFP.