Kota Kinabalu: Nominated Assemblyman Datuk Abdul Kassim Jali @ Razali has proposed the establishment of an El Nino Crisis and Gulf War Crisis Management Council as an immediate step to face simultaneous pressure on the State’s economy and food supply.
He said the need arose following current developments showing that the risk of crisis is no longer of a possible nature, on the contrary is increasingly approaching reality with direct effects to the people of Sabah.
According to him, geopolitical tension in the Gulf region at this time is beginning to give pressure to global oil prices, while climate projections show the probability of the El Nino phenomenon exceeding 60 per cent is expected to occur between July or August 2026 until early 2027.
“The combination of these two factors is not just an international issue, but will give a direct effect to the people of Sabah especially in terms of cost of living and food supply security,” he said when debating the government policy speech at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting here Tuesday.
Abdul Kassim said the structure of the national food system which still depends on imports makes Sabah vulnerable to supply disruption, moreover when major supplier countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Australia and India also face risks of El Nino effects.
He said the situation could cause Sabah to face domestic supply constraints as well as a sharp increase in import prices, once and for all giving double pressure to the market.
“Price pressure this time comes from two overlapping directions which are the increase of energy costs due to geopolitical conflict and the shrinking of agricultural yields as an effect of El Nino.
“The increase in oil prices will increase logistics costs, while the decrease in agricultural yields encourages the increase of food prices,” he said.
In relation to that, he said the proposed Crisis Management Council needs to play a role as a strategic coordination mechanism at the State level by gathering the State and Federal Government agencies, food and logistics industry players as well as economic, climate and food security experts.
According to him, among the main functions of the council is coordinating supply and ensuring the availability of strategic stocks for basic food such as rice, chicken and other daily necessities.
“In the same time, efforts to diversify import sources need to be strengthened to avoid dependence on one country only,” he said.
He also proposed that the council mobilise intervention to curb costs as well as strengthen the supply chain including accelerating the distribution of local yields and increasing investment in storage facilities.
Besides that, he said local production needs to be empowered through direct assistance to farmers and breeders including input subsidies, guarantees of yield purchase as well as investment in irrigation systems and water reservoirs as steps to face drought.
