SHAH ALAM, Aug 1 — State executive councillor for infrastructure and agriculture Dato’ Izham Hashim today hit back at critics who accused the government of driving up prices of basic food items during the recent Turun Anwar rally.
The Selangor Amanah chairman said the claims made by opposition leaders were baseless and inaccurate, and questioned if they have visited the markets to check prices for themselves.
He pointed out that Selangor has even been able to lower the prices of certain items under its Jualan Ehsan Rahmah (JER) initiative, following a drop in market prices.
“Their leaders claimed (the prices of) chicken and eggs have gone up. Since when? Go and see for yourselves. Don’t you go to the market?" he said in a video uploaded on his X account today.
“The price of a whole chicken has actually gone down. That’s why we’ve lowered it in our JER programme (from RM12 to RM10). Grade B eggs, which used to be RM10 per tray, now cost RM8.
“We’re also selling 5kg of rice for RM10, even though the controlled price is RM13. My advice to these opposition leaders, please go to the market and see the prices for yourselves.”
The Turun Anwar rally, which took place in the heart of the capital on July 26, aimed to pressure Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to step down, citing public discontent over rising living costs, tax increases, and subsidy adjustments, among others.
Izham noted that many social media users have debunked the “inaccurate and baseless” claims made by the opposition during the street demonstration.
“We can have differences of opinion, no problem, but use this platform (rally) to present constructive and factual ideas,” he said, while commending Anwar for allowing the opposition space to voice their views.
