Canteens cannot raise prices
Friday June 13, 2008
PUTRAJAYA: Canteen operators cannot raise prices of food and drinks indiscriminately as they have a contract with schools.
Education director-general Datuk Alimuddin Mohd Dom said the contract, usually for two years, stated how much each food item or drink would cost.
“All school principals and headmasters have been asked to ensure the prices in their canteens remain the same,” he told reporters after the ministry's post-Cabinet meeting.
It’s a dilemma. Logically when food items go up operators had to sell accordingly or else they will be like Santa Clause. End of the day canteen operators had to ‘gulung tikar’.
School on the other hand threatened to terminate if operators don’t abide by their contract.
Most operators had invested in their business, capital items and human resources. Termination of their contract will bring a disaster.
What to do? Operators can either;
1. remain as it is,
2. reduce quantity of food.
3. sacrifice quality, i.e no ayam, no fish ball in their fried bihun or mee,
4. make an appeal to higher authority to state your case,
5. just give up,
Option 1 the operator will die or Along will come looking for them,
Option 2 & 3, the school will complain,
Option 5, the school would probably take a couple of months to find a new operator. In this case everybody will be affected, operator, che gu, and the students.
The best option is to renegotiate. Minister, DG, and che gu sure got ‘otak’ one.
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