JELEBU: The Jelebu Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) operations centre here saw a group of people ready and waiting from as early as 8am as soon as they found out that there was going to be a sale of local white rice.
A total of 3,500 kilogrammes (kg) of local white rice were sold in a span of just 90 minutes.
Apart from Jelebu, five other Fama outlets in the state (Negri Sembilan) also became the focus and attention of local folk to obtain local white rice, which garnered widespread attention due to claims of a supply shortage in the market.
Housewife Khadijah Sidek, 46, from Kuala Klawang said that the sale of local white rice was most appreciated and a relief to her.
She said that prior to this, she had been unable to buy local white rice and was forced to buy more expensive imported rice instead.
She said that at RM40 for a 10kg bag, imported rice was a burden for her family of six compared to local rice, which only costs RM26 for the same amount.
"With the prices of other goods going up followed by no local white rice, it has become quite difficult and troublesome, especially for those of us who live in rural areas.
"When Fama organised this sale, it received a lot of attention from the local folk, especially given its affordability," she said when met at the Fama Operations Centre in Jelebu here.
Khadijah said that she only bought according to her needs, even though Fama allows each person to purchase two bags of rice.
For trader Samsudin Tohat, 74, from Kampung Larong here, local white rice is something that many are waiting for, especially food stall and restaurant operators like him.
He said although he has been forced to buy imported rice, he was still maintaining the prices at his food stall, at RM2 per plate of rice.