SHAH ALAM, 13 Jan: The Federal Government has been urged to control the sharp increase in price of chicken by breeders, who are deemed to burden vendors, and eventually, consumers.

Selangor Kini’s survey at the Section 6 market found that the chicken is sold at RM8 per kilogram (kg) compared to last week, which was RM7.70 per kg.

Many vendors expect the price of chicken to sharply increase in the near future and during the Chinese New Year celebration next month.

A chicken seller, Shahrul Nizam Ismail, 38, said that the increase in price from breeders have caused him to profit little following less demand from customers.

He said that he also had to price it lower despite purchasing at a high price from breeders because he did not want to incur losses if the customer does not buy.

“The Federal Government should act to control the price from breeders and suppliers because they seem to be raising prices at will.

“Suppliers sell at between RM7.70 to RM7.90 per kg. So as sellers, we are forced to increase the price to RM8 per kg and we only profit between RM0.30 to RM1 per kilogram,” he said when met.

He said that the Federal Government must find a mechanism to help vendors who are also burdened by the rising prices at the moment.

“The Federal Government cannot put 100 percent of the blame on vendors in this matter and compare our prices with supermarkets. We are vendors selling fresh chicken from the farm. If farmers raise prices quietly, suppliers will also raise prices.

“So as vendors, we are forced to raise prices. This has made it difficult for us to explain to our customers,” he said.

Another vendor, Adi Nasir, 27, said that the price of chicken is increasing every three days.

“We do not know the cause. In this week, the price of chicken has gone up by RM1.60 per kg.

“So we hope all parties understand vendors like us. Outside of Shah Alam, we found that chicken is sold between RM8.30 to RM8.50 per kg, while village chicken is sold at RM16 per kg,” he said.