Bread price jacked up 20sen

Published on: Sunday, December 23, 2012 (Daily Express)

Labuan: Most bakeries here have increased the price of bread by at least 20 sen with immediate effect and ahead of the implementation of the minimum RM800 wage policy effective January.

Sabah bakeries are expected to follow suit.

The increase meant that the price of a loaf of sandwich bread of 600gm net weight is RM3.80 while the 400gm is RM2.80.

Other quality breads such as country loaf, wholemeal bread now selling at RM5.70 and RM4.80 respectively, would also be increased.

Red bean buns have also been increased from RM3.20 to RM3.40.

The increase has been approved by the Sabah Bakery and Confectionary Association following pleadings from bakeries in Sabah and Labuan.

According to a bakery spokesman, there had been a gradual increase in the prices of all ingredients used for making bread. This has affected production cost.

The RM800 minimum wage policy is going to escalate costs come Jan 1.

He said the basic pay of most workers now was RM500 excluding various allowances and the paid over-time was based on the basic pay.

With the implementation of the new wage policy, the over-time rate would have to be based on RM800.

The rate would be higher and on certain public holidays the over-time rate is double or triple.

"If you have 20 workers in a bakery it will be costly for the bakery to operate with the same margin of sales and profits," said the spokesman.

The Government had stated that once the wage policy was implemented, companies should not increase the prices of their products but the Bakery Association seems to have out-smarted the move by doing so before the wage policy comes.

The greatest fear now was that though the price of a loaf of bread had increased by 20 sen, coffee shops may use this as an excuse to up the prices of two slices of buttered bread by 20 sen.

In the end, consumers would be the victims and it would be back to square one," said a teacher.

Chairman of the Labuan Chamber of Commerce (LCC) Datuk Francis Tee Chee Hok said such hikes were expected because the wage policy was being implemented hurriedly before the general elections to please the employees.

He regretted that there were no more public-private consultations on the wage policy.

He wondered how Menumbok or Kuala Penyu towns would be able to pay employees the minimum wage of RM800 while shops rentals were only between RM200 to RM300 and employees are now paid about RM200 and the daily income of these proprietors was meagre.

He said if the policy was forced down it may result in many going broke.

"It is a policy only suitable for big and main town like Kuala Lumpur," said Francis.

Recently the Human Resource MInister Datuk Seri S Subramaniam said only 600 out of the 4,200 applied to defer the minimum wage for three or six months.

Francis said more firms would have applied for deferment of the ruling if the process was simple.

The requirement was to enclose audit and financial statements.

"One could not seriously expect a rojak seller to have such accounting."