KUALA LUMPUR (April 15): The Agriculture and Food Security Ministry (KPKM) will not protect any party found to be involved in rice and paddy cartel activities in the country, said its minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu.

He clarified the matter in a post on his Facebook page on Monday following inquiries from some quarters regarding the issue.

In this regard, he said the ministry is prepared to provide any information to the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) if there is indeed a rice cartel and will not interfere in any investigation conducted by MyCC.

He said among the scopes of duty of the MyCC is to investigate the existence of cartels in the country's economy.