PORT DICKSON: Eight companies are being considered by the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism to operate the Kedai Rakyat 1 Malaysia (KR1M) 2.0” or the 1Malaysia People’s Shop 2.0 soon.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin said, the ministry is currently in talks with the companies to assess their capabilities to operate KR1M.
"There's a possibility that there may be more than one company which will be appointed to operate KR1M 2.0. We want the companies that will be given the responsibility to handle KR1M will be able to carry out the trust properly," he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had taken the previous operator to task for allegedly selling basic goods at above prices and instructed the ministry to terminate the contract of the firm appointed to operate KR1M.
Previously, Hamzah had announced that KR1M which is expected to be launched during 60th Merdeka celebration this year would enable the public to continue to get various products at a cheaper price in comparison to the market's price.
In another development, Hamzah said, the ministry hasn't received any reports on petrol station owners who close their premises on the verge of fuel price being increased.
He added, an investigation at a petrol station in Langkawi which was allegedly closed early after the new price was announced recently had found that the incident wasn't related to the new price.
"It was due to other reasons, not because they want to gain more profits," he said after opening the ground breaking ceremony of the Hengyuan Refining Company (HRC) new project here, which will enable the plant to produce oil with Euro4M standard.