Kota Kinabalu: Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku President Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey G Kitingan claimed Keningau, Tambunan and Sook experienced rice shortages over the weekend “due to Sabah’s dependence on a Federal-controlled food supply chain”.
“The shortage is a clear sign that the government is unprepared for the kind of global supply uncertainty that Sabah and Sarawak Affairs Minister Datuk Mustapha Sakmud urged Sabahans to brace for,” said the Keningau Member of Parliament in statement.
He said State Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry Minister Datuk Jamawi Jaafar acknowledged that rice import dependency cannot be avoided, as this situation has existed for a long time,” said Jeffrey, who is also Tambunan Assemblyman.
According to Jeffrey, supply was held in commercial stocks and inventories controlled by Bernas-appointed suppliers and could be redirected to Peninsular Malaysia at any time in a national emergency.
“That nine-month figure could disappear overnight and Sabah would have no recourse whatsoever,” he said.
Jeffrey, claimed that as the former State Agriculture Minister, he set a target of 30 per cent rice self-sufficiency for Sabah by 2026 and blamed inability to meet the goal to chronic underfunding from Putrajaya.
He said Sabah and Sarawak together received only six to seven per cent of total Federal development expenditure, despite Borneo’s disproportionate contribution to national revenue through oil and gas.
“The Sabah Padi and Rice Board is ready to do its job. It just does not have the money,” he said.
He welcomed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s reaffirmation in Kota Kinabalu on Sunday that the 40 per cent revenue commitment under the Malaysia
Agreement 1963 (MA63) was final, saying the funds were essential to strengthening Sabah’s food security infrastructure from the padi board to irrigation canals.
He said Federal promises on the MA63 had been made since 2017 with no implementation framework materialising the past nine years.
“Meanwhile, our shelves run dry and our agencies scrape by on whatever Putrajaya decides to give us,” he said.
