Prices of goods in Tawi-Tawi shoot up amid Sabah row

Prices of goods in Tawi-Tawi province have shot up as the exchange of goods between there and Sabah was disrupted by the ongoing row between Malaysian security forces and followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III.

 

Tawi-Tawi Governor Sadikul Sahali voiced fears the problem could get worse if the situation in Sabah is allowed to linger.

 

"'Yan ang problema kung tatagal ang problema sa Sabah. ... We appeal to the Sultanate of Sulu and the Malaysian government and our government to do something to end this problem," he said in an interview on dzBB radio Wednesday noon.

 

Sahali said he plans to take up the problem with local traders Friday at a peace-and-order council meeting.

 

Also, he said the meeting will tackle possible solutions to the price problem.

 

"We don't want traders to take advantage of the situation," he added.

 

On Tuesday, a report on MindaNews quoted Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Assemblywoman Dayang Carlsum Sangkula-Jumaide as saying the province's traders cannot buy consumer goods in Sabah, while those in Sabah cannot deliver their wares.

 

“We are now suffering from a shortage of commodities ... Our traders in Tawi-Tawi could no longer buy consumer goods in Sabah and those in Sabah could not bring their supplies here,” MindaNews quoted Jumaide as saying.

 

She added 80 percent of the consumer goods traded in Tawi-Tawi comes from Sabah, adding both areas had exchanged goods for decades.

 

Among the products bought in Sabah and traded in Tawi-Tawi are rice, sugar, cooking oil, noodles, soap, lotion, and perfumes, the MindaNews report said.

 

Jumaide was also quoted as saying there was an increase in the price of diesel, from P30 to P40 per liter to as high as P75 to P80.

 

MindaNews also quoted Tawi-Tawi Gov. Sadikul Sahali as saying in a radio interview that that supplies of consumer goods there are running out due to the conflict in Sabah.

 

“Our traders are buying stuff in Zamboanga (City) because they could no longer go to Sabah,” he said.

 

The situation in Sabah started February when Kiram's followers engaged Malaysian forces in a standoff that lasted three weeks.

 

Last March 1, a violent clash between the two forces resulted in the killing of 12 Filipinos and two Malaysian commandos.

 

A second clash on March 2 resulted in the deaths of six Malaysian policemen and at least six Kiram followers.

 

On Tuesday, Malaysian forces assaulted the area where Kiram's followers were believed to be hiding. —KG, GMA News