Malaysia’s Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry does not deny that there has been a rise in the prices of vegetables in Penang. However, although state director S. Jegan said inspections by the ministry's enforcement personnel had shown that there had been hikes in the prices of ten types of vegetables in Penang, these are not as high as claimed by the Consumers' Association of Penang.
According to Jegan, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, long beans, sawi and red bell peppers were among the vegetables that had seen a rise in price of between 4.03% and 71.43%: "There have been some changes in the prices of vegetables due to various factors including uncertain weather conditions of late but nothing as drastic as a 160% rise.”
Jegan said the inspections had also shown that there were premises where the prices of 10 types of vegetables and raw ingredients had gone down, some by as much as 20.04%. He added that these included round cabbage, broccoli, squid, skipjack tuna, seedless red watermelon and kailan.
Source: thestar.com.my