KUALA LUMPUR: A restaurant association has sent a letter of demand to a local daily which wrote that several mamak restaurants were operating as a cartel.
The Malaysian Indian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association (Presma) sent the letter to Kosmo! on May 27, demanding an apology and for the publication to remove the article.
Presma president Jawahar Ali Taib Khan said the association would give the daily until June 6 to meet its demands or it would take legal action.
“Dozens of police reports have been lodged throughout the country requesting an immediate investigation into the daily for spreading false information and tarnishing the industry’s image,” he said at a press conference.
On May 24, Kosmo! ran an editorial titled “Ramai jadi mangsa kartel mamak” (Many have fallen victim to the mamak cartel).
The editorial claimed that several mamak restaurant owners were running their businesses like a cartel by providing funds to others who wanted to set up eateries.
Jawahar denied the allegations and described them as baseless, adding that restaurant owners worked hard to set up shops on their own and keep their businesses afloat during these trying times.
