MIRI: Almost all shopping malls and supermarkets in Miri were packed with people on June 1.
A 5km long queue of cars was seen at the entrance of Miri-Brunei border checkpoint in Sungai Tujuh, Kuala Baram on Friday morning.
According to sources, the long queue at the checkpoint started as early as 6am.
It is believed that the main factor for the unsual number of Bruneians coming here was the announcement by the new government on the abolishment of GST effective June 1.
Every outlet and shopping mall displayed zerorized GST price tag for their products.
Most of the shopping malls and shops in the city were packed by locals and Bruneians as they took the opportunity to shop for groceries at zero rated GST price.
Liza Ibrahim, 36, a local, said she had been waiting to shop for groceries on June 1.
“I bought some bakery items as Hari Raya is coming and I was surprised when I saw the prices. They were certainly cheaper than before,” she said.
Usually it would cost her more than RM100 for bakery items with the same quantity but on that day (June 1), it only cost her RM75.05.
“I can now buy more with cheaper prices,” she smiled.
A Bruneian shopper, known as Asmah Kadir, 50, said she and her family had reached the border checkpoint around 8am.
“We knew about the zero-rated GST via social media and newspapers, and we had been planning this trip to come here on June 1,” she said.
The zero per cent GST follows the pledge by the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) led federal government to remove it in favour of the Sales and Services tax (SST).
Last Wednesday, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced that SST would resume on Sept 1.
